


The Last Fight of She-Ra

by Snelly_ESQ



Category: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ
Summary: It has been a year since the defeat of the Horde by Bright Moon...without the help of She-Ra. With Adora in hiding after running from Glimmer, and Glimmer running the kingdom like clockwork, a prophecy seeks to fulfill itself, one that features enemies of the ancients, and new found orders. The Rebellion must band together yet again, if they hope to defeat this evil. Can they?
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra), Mermista/Perfuma (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	1. Prelude: Excerpt from an Ancient Etherian Text

THE SAGA OF GRAENOTH THE HE-MAN

I

LO

In the time when the skies shown blue between us and the space above

In the time when the ancient ship crashed upon this world

In the time when beast and man roamed the wilderness, unsure of who was more gruesome, beast, or man

In the time when the kingdom of Brightmoon was young and when the Kingdom of Plumeria was nay a gleam in one’s eye

In the time when queens were warriors, stout, hearty women of great strength

In the time when kings were noble, just, and kind

Yes, this was the time of heroes

Man and Beast fought tooth, claw, sword, and spear

Alas, the world was without its most noble hero, She-Ra. 

She-Ra was a noble woman, of truest heart and ablest strength, but had been killed early in our history, when the ship crashed and burned, chased by the gray men of yore.

The world is never short on those true of mind and spirit, and so the goddess of Heroes, Pastrea, queen of war and victory, gifted another hero to this planet, as was told.

One night, as the queen of Bright Moon washed herself from the bloody battles of the wars of man and beast, she was visited by a goddess. 

‘Lo, Woman,” it said, “I am the goddess of heroes, Pastrea.”

“Have you come to crown me a hero?” She asked. “Have you come for more sinister means, to crown me a villain? Perhaps we have all been on the wrong side of the fight for so long we have forgotten it.”

“No,” She said. “I come to warn you of your kingdom’s fate, for unless queen finds the She-Ra, then she is doomed to be slain by beast and by man.”

“Then who, pray tell, shal I call? For the She-Ra is dead.”

“There is another then, less powerful than the She-Ra, but still as noble.” 

“Who, pray tell, is that?”

“He shall arrive in due time. He will be great, and strong. And by the power of GraySkull shall he be noble. His name will be He-Man, and he will save our world.”

With that, the goddess Pastrea disappeared, and the queen finished her bath and left.

  
  
  
  


II

Once, as the king and queen of Brightmoon celebrated another victory over beast,

Many men ate and drank, and women as well, all telling stories of great doings and heroes of the land. 

One man spoke of the great She-Ra, Mara.

“The great Mara once brought an entire spire of the Gray men down upon them with only her voice! When her blade was taken from her by the Gray men, she shouted so loudly that the gods and goddesses came down from the heavens, and tipped the tower over on her whim. She-Ra, Mara, the greatest hero to have ever lived!”

The men and women all cheered, and so did the king and queen. 

The cheering and reveling was so loud, it woke a beast of great evil. 

A beast 4 powerful legs, each with claws, and menacing, deadly teeth, long as swords. 

On its legs it stood as tall as 4 men, and its jaws had the strength of 400. 

The beast was called Holmar, Prince of the Beasts of the Whispering Woods.

Once Holmar had been angered by a town who vanquished him to the woods. 

In return, he came one night, and ate whole houses and families, trailing blood across the rivers and turning them red as he watered himself. 

He then returned and lashed out at the survivors, all of which were warriors, taking spear and arrow to his hide and surviving, taking strikes from magic to his eyes and still seeing, and eating them whole. 

None dared anger Holmar, King of Beasts of the Whispering Wood. 

And yet, as he tried to sleep, the revellers only became louder and louder, singing tales of killing his kin and wearing them on their backs. 

He had heard enough! And he marched from his nest in a dank, dark cave, and walked confidently into Brightmoon, roaring loudly and gnashing his teeth at the king. 

“I am Holmar, king of beasts. I am here to quiet you. Hush now, foolish pests, or become my dinner.”

“Hah!” said one man, a strong man, standing 7 feet tall, with arms like mountains and a voice like a lion’s. 

“Nay, you shall become our dinner!” He pulled his sword, and struck at Holmar, who discarded the strike as if it were a feather pillow.

“You have sealed your fate, warrior!” Holmar opened his mouth and ate the warrior whole, along with a few others. He gnashed and clawed at the rest of the revellers, leaving scratches and scrapes across the walls. He roared loudly, a hellish roar that could disturb the gods. 

And when he left, all that was left were the king, queen, and a few Holmar had left for later, as he was too full. 

The Queen shouted with rage. “After him! After Holmar!” But the guards did not answer, instead running to their homes in fear. The queen sat back, and ordered servants to clean. She spoke to the king. 

“What is there to do? The warriors fear him with all their hearts. He is strong, this Holmar.” 

“We shall arrange for mercenaries, the finest in all the world.” 

“Nay,” the queen said, “I have just remembered a dream, where a goddess told me a man would come to rid the world of beasts of evil.”

“Who shall that man be?”

“He shall be revealed when the moon is full, and when the beast Holmar’s master returns for him.”


	2. Since I Am Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the story properly begins. Adora is keeping her distance, Glimmer is dealing with a new threat, and A young man begins his journey.

“This is really...dull.” Adora said. “It’s all this weird, flowery language. Who translated this?”

“I did!” Lance sat on the couch. “It’s pretty well done, right?”

“I guess. I didn’t even really know ‘Old Etherian’ was a thing. I thought it was just the first ones.” 

“This is a first ones story,” Lance said, “But the only known copy of it is in Old Etherian.” He cocked his head. “Adora, you never struck me as someone who was fascinated by old folk stories.” He got up and fetched some more tea. “Why are you so bent on reading it if it bores you?”

“It’s my history, Lance.” She said. “And...it’s all I really have left.” 

The Horde had been defeated, somehow, without She-Ra. Not that Adora was unable to transform without the sword; a new one had been covertly made for her, the rune in the pommel, thinner, better for cleaving. She could use it to channel She-Ra. But no matter what power she had, she couldn’t get Glimmer back. Not after what had been said, what had been done. She’d been in hiding since then, providing valuable translations to George and Lance in exchange for a place to lay low, even from Bow. Granted, she’d been living in the woods for nigh a year before that. 

“The translations for this other thing are done, by the way.”

“Oh!” Lance looked excited. “What does it say?”

“It looks like a lentil soup recipe to me.” 

“ _ Lentil Soup!?  _ We thought it was some sort of religious thing!” He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Goes to show, you never really know unless you’re there, right?”

“Guess so.” She smiled and looked out the window, off in the direction of Bright Moon Castle. If only she could be there. It made her wonder, did she really know how Glimmer felt? After all, she wasn’t  _ there… _

* * *

Glimmer was...we’ll say occupied. Plumeria had been invaded by strange gray men, every so often, sacking small towns and generally looking for...something. And Perfuma seemed to know what it was. 

“I...think they might be looking for the Graethites.”

“Graethites?”

“The Graethites,” Perfuma started, “Were an order of monks who lived in Plumeria. They worshipped Graenoth, a sort of mortal turned god, who was a very minor god of...swords? I think? They disappeared a while ago, but they lived near a place called Sword Rock if my mother’s stories are true.”

“So this is all based on stories?” Glimmer crossed her arms. She didn’t have time for stories, not anymore. 

“W-well, they haven’t been seen for a while, so-” Perfuma looked down. Mermista scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Uuuugh, what else would a bunch of gray chumps be looking for in Plumeria? Flowers? You think they like those?”

“Fair point, but we can’t just chase myths. What did the Graethites even do?”

“I just said, they were warrior monks who worsh-” 

“I  _ mean,  _ what did they do that’s making these...gray...things look for them?”

“Oh!” Bow held up his hand. “I  _ know  _ about these guys! Apparently they have access to the He-Man.” 

“...the what?” Glimmer sighed gently. “You don’t mean there’s another sword wielding hero of myth out there somewhere, do you?” 

“Well, sure!” Bow said. “And if those gray men, whoever they are, get their hands on him, it could be bad...he’s almost as powerful as Adora is.”

Hearing the name stung Glimmer. She visibly winced, in fact...first her mother, then the woman she was supposed to be marrying. It would have been today if Glimmer just hadn’t...said that. It was too late. She wasn’t going to hang herself up on it. 

“Perfuma, I need you to try your hardest to capture one of the invaders. Mermista, how’s the rebuilding of Salineas?” 

“It’s fine.” She said. “But can we just work out this trade agreement? I don’t like having Seahawk in charge while I’m gone.” She said. “I feel like if I come back it’ll be worse than when we fought it out of the Horde’s hands.” 

The battle for Salineas had been the most fatal of all the fights in the war, if only because it took so long. Being the attackers in a siege is supposed to be easier than defending, but such ‘truths’ aren’t always accurate. But a new trade question had opened up, on the subject of Golden Silk. This was the sort of uninteresting, peace time work that Glimmer loathed. It was just tedious. It had ruined any time she got to spend with Bow, and...the strain of it had driven away Adora. 

“I should go ask my dads about the Graethites.” Bow posited the idea. “If anyone knows some stuff about them, it’s probably those two.” Glimmer smiled and nodded. 

“Good idea. You find out what you can about them and the He-Man, and whatever reason they might have these enemies.” 

“Can do!” He got up to leave. “I’ll come back with some Answers.” 

Glimmer sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “This can’t be another war...we lost how many in the last one?”

“In total, 6 million Etherians,” the financial advisor, Finara, said, “3 Million from the horde, 2 million from the Rebellion, and the rest were civilians.” She elaborated. “It was a very long conflict...it started when your mother was a child, Glimmer.” 

Glimmer heaved a large sigh and stood from her chair. “If we do end up in another war, public support won’t be...great.” She said. “We just ended one last year. It will most likely be small, loyal groups.”

“We haven’t even had enough time to get our armies back to full strength!” Scorpia said, throwing her claws up in defeat. “If there is one, we might need to pull a Hordak and rely on bots.” She said. She looked over at Entrapta. “Think you could cover it?”

“Well, since I finally have Dryl back, it could happen!” She nodded. “Although, it...might take a bit to figure out a bot that could actually be useful in battle.” Perfuma smiled. 

“If the Graethites are real, and actually out there, then they could at least loan what they have!” She thought. “It wouldn’t be much, but anything counts, right?”

“Every bit does count.” Glimmer said. “Alright...so, the security meeting is over. Thanks for coming, all of you. I need to open the court to civil questions, so-”

“Oooh, Civil questions!” Entrapta looked over. “It would be great if I knew what sort of questions people ask their queen! I think it could be valuable?”

“No, Entrapta, it’s really boring.” Glimmer said. “I haaaaaaaate them! It’s just people asking weird questions.” She crossed her arms and groaned. “I got one guy who wanted to repent to me for stealing bread. Bread!” She giggled a bit. “It was super awkward.”

“You think that’s rough?” Mermista leaned back. “Seahawk comes to civil questions every day to bring me stuff. I don’t even know where he gets all this stuff. Also he keeps bringing me the ‘ashes of his ships’ or whatev-OH NO.” 

“What is it?” Perfuma asked. 

“I LEFT SEAHAWK FOR CIVIL QUESTIONS.” 

Civil questions, it should be noted, are an Etherian tradition, where people may ask questions of the Princess or Queen. It started ages ago, then was halted during the war, and then finally started up again after it had finished. It was not the sort of think Seahawk should be left in charge of!

“I have to leave NOW.” She said, rushing to her transport. Perfuma waved as she walked away. “...bye.” 

The rest of the princesses all cleared out, and Scorpia went to a spare room, which was apparently a prison, to check on something...or, rather, someone. 

* * *

Roke sat across from Graethite abbot Lorkus. He wore his training gear; a thick black gambeson, black trousers with plate greaves and heavy boots, and his ‘trainee’ tabard, white with a green stripe. He was about to lose it. 

“Roke,” Started Lorkus, “You have earned your sword. You have completed your training, and you will, someday, fulfill your role as a true soldier of the Graethites.”

“Thank you, abbot Lorkus.” He said. He was a young boy, only around 19, with soft, brown eyes, curly black hair, and pale skin. He had been assessed from birth to make him the best sword for his style; a basket hilted broadsword, with a black wooden scabbard, perfect for cutting. He was also gifted a buckler, which better suited the sword than a full shield. He was handed a few things. First, a mail hauberk, made by the blacksmith. Then, a cuirass, plate, also made by them. He was also gifted a black, elbow length shoulder cape, with a lavender inner side. He took the items, and his new sword, and bowed. He ran the sword into an old, slotted stone. 

“The sword is an extension of the self.” He said. “The sword is a reaper, and must be used justly. The sword is not what makes a warrior evil.” 

He pulled it away. 

“Go, now, and ready yourself.” Said Lorkus. He sighed. “Wear your full armor. You must make a pilgrimage.”

“Like our current He-Man? Am I off to find him?”

“No, boy,” Lorkus said, “But...I shall tell you when you return.” Roke gasped. 

“...the prophecy is beginning, isn’t it?”

“The youngest must take my place.” He said. “The armies of the greatest evil are approaching. It is time for the phoenix to rise from the ashes.” He said. 

“Your name, Roke...it is old Etherian.” Abbot Lorkus kissed his cheek. “For  _ Phoenix. _ ” 

Roke trembled, and...teared up. “Where will I go?”

“You will go to Bright Moon, and speak with the queen. She shall help you.”

Roke cried. “I-I…” he put his things down and hugged Lorkus tightly. “I can’t! I-I have to stay, I can’t run the order, I could never do it!” He gripped at Lorkus’ robes. “I’m too young! I only just completed my training, I’ll hardly be ready for-”

“Roke!” Lorkus smiled. “I have lived a good life. I suppose you must go and live yours. The order must fall before the prophecy can begin, so says Graenoth.” Lorkus sighed. “We lost so many to the Horde...you, Adam, and Kothor were all that we had of your age. We are at peace with it.”

“I...I’ll miss you.” Roke looked up and Kissed Abbot Lorkus’ cheek. They heard rumbling. 

“I must go,” Roke said. 

“That you must…”

Roke quickly rushed off his gambeson, fought on the hauberk, cuirass, and shoulder cape, with a new white tabard with no stripe. He ran as fast as his legs could take him, through the woods. He just...ran. 

He hoped he would do well.


	3. Discovery

When Bow got to his father’s house, he knocked on the door. He waited, patiently. Funny, last time he’d been with- 

Adora. He shook his head. He only knew what Glimmer had said, that she was gone. He didn’t want to think about the rest. For all he knew, she’d died somewhere in the whispering woods and was picked apart by vultures. His father answered the door. 

“Bow!” Lance hugged him. “George is out right now, but-”

“Bow?” Adora looked up, and locked eyes with him. 

“...Adora?”

“BOW!” She gasped, and hid herself. “I-I don’t want you to be upset, PLEASE don’t be upse-”

He hugged her as tightly as he could. “You’re alive! I just...I thought you were dead!” he was crying. Genuinely crying. “I’m just glad you’re okay!”

“Bow, I-” She thought. “I’m sorry. After what Glimmer said, I just-” She pulled away. “I just couldn’t go to Brightmoon again.” 

“I don’t wanna know what happened between you two, but I need you to know that it changed. Glimmer misses you. A lot.”

“And she never sent anyone after me?”

“That’s a lot of resources that we don’t have, Ado-”

“I dunno.” She sat down. She looked at the floor and let her hair down. “I feel like...like she doesn’t want me.” She said. “I feel like if I went back we’d just fight even more.”

“She’s different now!”

“I’m worse.” She said. “She might be better at running the kingdom, but if I’m not good at being She-Ra, then what am I?” She asked. “If I can’t protect her, I may as well just stay here, where I can’t put her in any sort of danger.”

“HOW would you put her in danger!? You’re SHE-RA!”

“Was.” She pointed at the new sword. “And I get it, the sword isn’t she-Ra, but it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth.” She barked, appearing disgruntled, bitter, and tense. She looked out the window. “I can’t go back, Bow.”

“Not even to fight in a second war?”

“... _ second war?”  _

“Plumeria has been invaded multiple times. If the alliance is gonna actually stick together this time, we need to send people there.”

“...I suppose I could help instruct troops.” She said. “I know a thing or two about that.” Adora looked down. “But...second war?”

“Well, we think it may have to do with some sort of ancient evil and these graethite guys.” 

“GRAETHITES!?” Lance smiled brightly. “I know about them! I know lots about them! But...oh, no.” His eyes went from showing joy to distinct dread. “...this means  _ He’s _ coming.” 

“Who’s coming?” Adora asked. 

“He was a king of beasts, but Graenoth cast him away for many years...his name was Ske-”

“An ancient evil, huh?” Adora interrupted. She stood up. “Well, you guys beat the horde without me. You should be able to face this ancient evil or whatever.”

“With what troops? We lost nearly all of our forces in the war, Adora,” Bow started, “And our instructors are mostly gone too.” 

“As long as I don’t have to talk too much with Glimmer? We’ll be okay.” Adora stood. Her hair was down, and she looked less...noble than before. Her clothes were somewhat shabby, and while she looked just as fit, it seemed like she was spiritually on her last legs. It almost hurt bow to look, now that he saw her well enough to notice. 

“I can sneak you into bright moon. I’ll figure out a way for you to instruct without having to confront her...directly. I can’t guarantee you won’t. Maybe it’ll be good for you?” He posed the idea. “Maybe talking might...I dunno, help?”

“I feel like I’m past that point.”

* * *

Scorpia knew. She just  _ knew. _ Shadow Weaver had to be here somewhere. She wanted...something? She wasn’t sure. Answers, probably. What did her grandfather really do, was it all just lies, stuff like that. She just...had a lot of stuff she wanted cleared up. She snuck into the small spare room they’d kept her in for a while when she got there, and-

CATRA

“CATRA!?” Scorpia looked around, and hushed herself. “...what’re you doing here?”

“I’m in prison.” Catra looked...worse for wear. She had quite a few bruises, her hair was dishevled, and her movements were slow. It was as if her body ached...that much was visible. It was bad. 

“This is a prison?”

“I guess...nngh-” She stood, clutching her side. “Long story how I ended up here.” She said. She leaned on one of the couches. “I guess taking out all the cushions was...prison status to queen coward. I’m glad clean hard-ass hasn’t gotten to it.” She narrowed her eyes. 

“Is that Glimmer? She’s not so bad! She’s kind of a sweetie, once you get to know her!” 

“Suuuuure she is.” Catra winced. “What were you here for anyway?”

“I was looking for shadow we-”

“She’s in-” Catra coughed. “She’s some place else. Glimmer moved her after the war. She’s...not on her own, I don’t think. I think she might be in big girl prison.”

“No couches in big girl prison, huh?”

“Scorpia?” Catra looked over. “...I was a prick. Like, a really big one. Massive. And after everything ended, I just realized...I had a lot of feelings left over from stuff between me and Adora, and I didn’t wanna have to talk about it, and the whole ‘second fiddle my whole life’ thing wasn’t helpful either.” 

“Hey, bud, it’s…” Scorpia sat next to her. “You hurt me.” She said. “You hurt me a lot. And you hurt a lot of other people, too.” 

“I know. I guess asking forgiveness was a stupid ide-”

“I’ll forgive. In fact, I think I  _ do  _ forgive you. It’s forgetting that I can’t do.” She said. Catra smiled. 

“Thanks, Scorpia. I just-” She looked down, and leaned on Scorpia, purring. “I need someone. Anyone. I just want to feel like someone actually cares about me, and I never,  _ ever  _ got that.” 

“I care about you, wildcat.” Scorpia patted her shoulder, but Catra withdrew. 

“Bad arm!” 

“Yikes, they did a number on you, huh?”

“I was...running for a while. Looking for Adora.” 

“I bet. What do they keep you here for?”

“Apparently,” She began, “I’m some sort of threat to national security or something. Like I’M gonna be a dangerous person on my own. UGH!” She laid back. “I HATE IT HERE.”

“...well, you got me.”

“I guess I do.” Catra smiled softly, but made sure Scorpia didn’t see it. It was the first time she’d heard those words in a while. 

* * *

Glimmer was taking civil questions. Very simple stuff, really. Something about a baby, a couple wanting to get married without their parents knowing, things like that. The atmosphere changed when Perfuma barged in, followed by a weird, scrawny looking boy with dark brown hair and horrified, tired eyes. “I DEMAND PRIVACY WITH THE QUEEN!”

“...I just finished with the last person in line, Perfuma.” Glimmer held up her hands, looking jarred. “You don’t have to yell.”

“Sorry, I just...this...this is really important.” She looked winded. 

“Perfuma, did you  _ run  _ here from the transport drop off?”

“Maybe I did. But this is IMPORTANT!” 

“Okay, okay! What is it? And who’s that kid with the sword?”

Perfuma pushed the boy into the center of the room. “Go on,” she said, “She’s nice.” 

“Do I kneel?”

“I mean, if you want, but she’s normally pretty calm about that sort of thi-”

“You’re already in the center.” Glimmer said. The boy blinked. 

“ _ Speak.” _

“R-right, right.” he cleared his throat. He was in strange regalia; it looked like armor, sure, with a sword and buckler. Some kind of knight? But no order that Glimmer knew of wore black and lavender, or had a sword as a crest. 

“My...my name is Roke.” He sounded nervous. He was shaking. “I’m the new-” he paused. “New abbot of the Graethites. My order was destroyed in a-accordance with an ancient prophecy detailing the return of a great evil to this land.”

“The Horde?” Glimmer’s eyes were the size of the moons. 

“No. Worse. He calls himself Skeletor. He was a lord of beasts in Graenoth’s time.” When he said Graenoth, he looked up and kissed his hand. “He...he returns with an army of gray men, all trained by a former Graethite.”

“So Skeletor plans to come back and destroy us?”

“Yep.” He said, forgetting he was in the company of royalty. He blushed. “I-I mean, uhm...yes, my queen.” 

“Right...so where do you fall into all of this?”

“I’m supposed to train and find the He-man. His name now is Adam.” 

“...is he anything like the She-Ra?” 

“Much less powerful, but yes.” He said. 

“Where is he?” 

“He...was on a pilgrimage, and I don’t know where he currently is.” The kid was sweating bullets. Glimmer had to do something. She came down from the throne. 

“As long as we find this He Man”, she looked up at him, “We’ll be fine, right?”

“He-Man and She-Ra, yes.” He said. "It has to do with the prophecy, you s-"

“We need both!?” Glimmer tried to hide her anxiety with the situation. Adora had been gone for ages, and sure as hell wouldn’t come back just to help Glimmer with some hocus pocus stuff. “We’ll...do what we must to help you. In the meantime, let’s get you some rest. You look beat.”

“Thanks...is there food?” 

“Why wouldn’t there be food?” Roke shrugged. 

“I never got out much, I dunno when you all eat.”

“Uhm...when do you eat?”

“Oh, just sort...whenever.” He walked with a guard, and Glimmer stopped Perfuma. “Stay here.”

“What’s the matter, que-”

“We need She-Ra. We don’t have her.” 

“But...you said she betra-”

“I  _ know  _ what I  _ said,  _ but it’s not...I was hurt.” She felt a tear run down her cheek. “...we need to find her. But it can’t, for any reason, be violent.” She said. “We need her to choose to come here.” 

The door flung open again. Bow walked in. “Did someone say ‘looking for Adora’?”

“Bow!” Glimmer smiled. “Thanks for going to find more information, but we found the last living one, and we’ve got a lot to do. What was that about Adora?”

“Well…” Bow couldn’t lie at all. “I’ll admit it.” He rubbed his arm. “...I found her. But she really,  _ really  _ doesn’t wanna speak to you. She’s…” A previous statement the author made was false. Bow could lie  _ sometimes.  _ “She’s not here yet, anyway. If she even decides to come back.”

“Where was she!?” Glimmer asked. 

“She was-”

“I’m right here.” 

In the doorway stood Adora, all of her, with her new sword and everything. 

“ADORA!”

“Queen Glimmer.” She said, an icy tinge in her voice. “I’ve come to train troops.” She said. “Nothing more.”

“But, Adora, I-”

“Nothing. More.” She said. 

“I thought you didn’t wanna see he-” 

“Change of heart, Bow.” She started to walk out of the room. “I need to get settled in.”

“WAIT.” Glimmer said. “...t-there’s this boy who just showed up who-”

“I don’t wanna hear about your romantic life since I left, Glimmer.”

“What? No, he’s a He, it’s...just find a room for now.” Glimmer tried to get closer, but Adora just looked at her blankly. 

“And await further instruction?”

“...Bow will tell you what to do.” Glimmer looked defeated. In a way, Adora did, too.

“...yes, my queen.” Adora left for what used to be her room. 

“Well, that went about as well as I could have hoped.” Bow shrugged. 

“...I have to get better at being a friend.” Glimmer sighed. “Or maybe just...stop thinking about it like that.”

“Hey,” Bow hugged her, “You two were meant for each other. Just because you made some mistakes doesn’t mean it can’t happen!”

“We would have been  _ married,  _ Bow! How do I get that back?”

“Time.” Bow said. 

But time was not on their side. At least, not in the sense of war. As the moons rose that night, Glimmer looked out her window, wondering what was to come. And hoping it didn’t destroy everything she knew. This would be a different war, one of gods and deities that she’d never even heard of. Graenoth? Pastrea?  _ Skeletor?  _ She had no clue what any of it meant. But she wasn’t the sort to poke around in the royal library to figure out what all of that meant. 

But a certain former horde soldier with blonde hair and a sword was just that type of girl. 


	4. The Saga, parts 3, 4, and 5

III   
The day rose, and with it, the true image of devastation

Skeletor, master of beasts and evils, had been through bright moon with Holmar

The day looked dower and grim, and hope was no friend in this time

The queen and king of Bright Moon mourned and wailed, funeral after funeral for fallen men, women, and children

And a man came on horseback, a man armed with a mighty sword and armor thick as the planet’s soil, no mere man, nay, a hero for ages to come. 

The man was stout, tall, and while not covered with muscle, practically fit, as when he got down from the horse, the earth beneath him shook, and the horse, untrembling, whinnied to catch one’s eye

The man spoke, in a booming, massive voice, that could be heard from the highest heavens

His voice made the walls of the palace tremble and crack

“LO,” He shouted, “What evil has been through this way?”

“Skeletor, lord of beasts and of evil,” the queen remarked. “No lone warrior shall vanquish him or his prince of beasts, Holmar.”

“Ha!” The man planted his sword in the ground. “I am no mere man.” He spoke with a true tone.

“I am Graenoth, endowed to be a hero by Pastrea, and it is I who shall slay Holmar.” 

“Long ago,” He said, “I was born into this world, to a blacksmith father and warrior mother. For me, only the finest swords were made, and only the finest steeds kept. Once, while my mother was away and while I was a young boy of only 8 years, a villain, a thief and his men, came to rob my father of his possessions. The iron and gold and other things he had were quite valuable, and of noble purpose.

While he slept, I heard the villains sneak in, and saw them in my home! Without a second thought, the first thief tried to kill me, and I grabbed a branch from play earlier in the day. Perhaps it was the thickness of the branch that knocked him to the ground, or perhaps my strength. The next villain was a quite large man,” he started, “Indeed, a giant, trained by the first, to do his bidding. He stood 3 men tall, and was under the high roof of my father’s forge. Without a single trouble, I shouted, and the roar scared him away, and the villainous giant forgot his evil ways, and became peaceable. And the villains were away.”

Hearing stories of such strength and ability, the queen of Bright Moon posed an idea. 

“Perhaps,” she said, “We shall pay you in gold, and you shall tame Holmar the beast, and we may use him as our own against the evil Skeletor.”

“Perhaps? No, Certainly.” Graenoth replied. “I shall only ask to be paid in meals and shelter, no more. My duty is my duty; I shall not ask for more than I am in need of.”

IV

As the night fell across the kingdom, another joyous party rang out

Stories of heroes and great ones abound, and stories were told of this new hero, Graenoth, unknown to some and yet so famous to others. 

One mane told a tale. 

“Once,” the man began, “When the man Graenoth was young, he was with a party hunting for beasts.   
The party came across a den of beasts, strong and strange, with claws the size of swords and fangs the size of spires. 

Some of the party were quickly dispatched by the beasts, ripped limb from limb. 

The whelps of the party were all ended, save for one, who stood behind Graenoth, and charged with his spear. 

The whelp speared a beast, and ended it rightly and nobly, as the beast began to die, another came upon him and took his arm with a claw. 

Graenoth drew his sword, and the image of him standing scared many of the beasts. But the one who took the whelp’s arm merely laughed and said ‘I fear no man, no blade, no armor. You shall make a fine meal!’ 

Graenoth avoided the first lunge of the beast, and hopped on its back, quickly cutting its neck open. 

The beast keeled over, and Graenoth fell from it, driving his sword into the beast’s skull. The beast was slain!

When he saw the whelp of no arm, he watered him, and bandaged his shoulder, stopping the bleeding with fire from a torch. 

‘Leave me, Graenoth,’ cried the whelp, ‘I am not long for this world!’

But Graenoth was never one to abide by death’s laws!

He ran, carrying the fully armored whelp, and ran and ran, being 4 miles as lean when he returned. 

The whelp was saved, and Graenoth, for his courage, was awarded land in Felcoshia*!”

V

The men and women at the table cheered. But one voice did not

The voice of Holmar, and his master, Skeletor, did not find Graenoth’s presence quite amusing

“Go, Holmar!” Skeletor said, “Go, and put an end to their festivities! Such a hero is no match for your kin, the beasts!” 

Holmar descended upon the kingdom, rampaging and pillaging through all he could

Holmar destroyed the spire of Kentedon**, and the villages surrounding it

Holmar reached the center of the kingdom, and broke down the long house walls

The prince of beasts destroyed the banquet tables, eating all the food in sight, and ate both of the guards easily

A warrior tried to rush him, but was brushed off with ease, cut in half by his massive claws

His fangs crush another warrior between his teeth, and Graenoth readied his sword

Graenoth shouted, a shout that could be heard on the distant moons, a shout that could shatter bone

Holmar yielded, but regained himself. There would be no warrior strong enough to defeat him. No man!

Holmar caught Graenoth under his paw, and Graenoth cut one of his claws with his sword

Graenoth escaped from the beast’s bleeding paw, and climbed his furry foreleg to reach his throat. 

Graenoth shouted. “I AM GRAENOTH, HERO OF BRIGHT MOON, DESTROYER OF BEASTS. BOW TO ME!”

Holmar whimpered and bowed his head. “I shall attack no more.”

“Nay,” he said, “You shall fight for us, against skeletor, who has enslaved your kind, and forced us upon each other.”

Graenoth drove his sword into the ash where a fire once was lit, blown out by his shout.

“I seek forgiveness for killing your kind, and in return, we shall destroy Skeletor, your slave master, together.”

Holmar bowed, and Graenoth spoke. “Order healers to fix his paw. He shall become a great weapon for us.”

  
  


_ *Felcoshia is located in modern day Plumeria.  _

_ **Kentedon was the location of an ancient temple to the god of wheat, Konus _


	5. SKELETOR

“My lord.” A finely dressed man kneeled at the feet of the throne. The cavern was dark, and the light was low. The man wore lavender and black robes, and had a finely made rapier at his side. “The She-Ra has returned to Bright Moon. Our scouts have just confirmed it.”

“I see...come, Kothor,” The large man spoke with a grating voice, but one that screamed ‘Evil’. “We shall deliver a message to the queen of Bright Moon. We shall not go violently. But we must let her know...Etheria shall be ours! Heheheheeee~” His laugh made the cavern walls tremble. 

Skeletor started towards Bright Moon. 

“My lord,” Kothor spoke, “Perhaps we should be more careful.” He got into the transport. “Surely they will not be kind to us barging in.”

“Nonsense.” Skeletor chuckled. “With you by my side, the last Graethite, I should be allowed anywhere I see fit!”

“Yes…” Kothor said. “...last Graethite.”

* * *

“Last Graethite, huh?” Adora looked over Roke.

“The, uhm...l-last fully trained one. Sure.” he looked awe struck. 

“...you alright?”

“You’re She-Ra?” He asked. 

“I, uhm...sure. Yeah, I was.” Roke just...stared. Adora laughed. “Well, I mean, not really anymore. I still have the ability to, like,  _ turn into  _ She-Ra, but I don’t do it often, I mean, it’s,” She looked down. “It’s a bit traumatic. I...lost some friends because of it.”

“Oh?”

“I was gonna marry Glimmer, if you can believe that.”

“YOU WERE GOING TO MARRY THE QUEEN!?” He smiled brightly. He looked down, and slowly put two and two together. “I...oh. Uhm...I see.” He sat on his bed. “It must be hard working for her again.”

“I’m doing what I have to. No more, no less.” She said. “I figure I can at least help out. Isn’t that what you’re here for?”

“Mhm.” Roke scratched the back of his head. “I’m trying to get the order started up again. You know, I could train you if you needed it?” 

“Huh?”

“You’re  _ She-Ra,  _ so you don’t need a lot of training at all.” He said. “But there are some pointers I could give...mostly meditative.” 

“What could I get from meditation?”

“Peace.” he said. “You look like you might need it.” 

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” 

Bow interrupted the both of them. “First, Adora, you could definitely use some of that meditating stuff, and  _ second,  _ did you guys not just hear the weird horn thing?”

* * *

A horn sounded again. Unannounced visitors. Adora furrowed her brow, and got her sword. So did Roke. They and Bow walked to the front of the castle, and saw a strange...dragon? 

“What is that, your majesty?” A guard looked down at Glimmer. Glimmer shook her head. 

“Let’s find out.” The dragon landed, and down from it came two men. 

One was Kothor; a well dressed, former Graethite. He knew Roke well. He was a duelist, and had a rapier and dagger with him, as well as his typical armor and raiment, indicative of his order. He has a pencil thin mustache, and quaffed, blonde hair. He also had a small patch of hair on his chin, and a cavalier cap with a bright white feather, looking every bit the musketeer, thigh high leather boots and all.

“The king of beasts and of evil, SKELETOR, would like to speak with the queen of Bright Moon!”

Glimmer drove her staff into the ground. “I’m the queen.”

“...you?” Kothor got closer. “You’re awfully young to be the-” He noticeably winced. “...I’m sorry.” He whispered. 

“What does this Skeleton guy even want? Where is he?”

The second man to come down was wearing blue robes, and a hood. He was bone. Nothing but. No muscles, just...a sort of angry looking skeleton. He was intimidating, however, carrying a large staff with a glowing black orb at the top. “I demand to see terms of surrender!”

“We haven’t got enough holding cells for  _ all of you, _ bone boy,” Glimmer smirked and crossed her arms. “But we’ve got an oven big enough for a bit of the dragon.”

“YOUR surrender! Surrender now, or else I shall engulf the world in wars and horrors unseen for nearly 4 thousand years!”

“We’ll fight.” 

“So be i-” Skeletor and Kothor looked. They saw...Adora, Roke, and Bow. 

“Roke!?” Kothor looked shocked. “You...you’re alive!?”

“...Kothor?” Hot tears streamed down Roke’s face as he saw him. “...you...you were supposed to defend the order, you  _ swore  _ you would!”

“Men make oaths they cannot keep, boy, it’s common.”

“I…” 

Skeletor laughed. “...kill the Graethite.” 

“ Skeletor, my lord, I can’t kill him, he’s just a-”

“Out of my way, then! I’ll handle it!” Skeletor grabbed the staff, and Glimmer thought quick, launching a sparkle attack from hers that left part of the skeleton’s robes tinged, showing his bare bones. 

“Gah! I’ll get you for that, queen Glimmer!” Skeletor pointed his staff. Glimmer was exposed. The attack came for her, and-

"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"

“...by the gods…” Kothor and Skeletor looked on. “...the She-ra!”

Adora had pulled together a lot of strength, and blocked the blow with her sword, her magic resisting it. “Go.” She said. “NOW.” 

Skeletor mounted the dragon. “You will not be so confident when we have taken your allies, slaughtered their men, and bedded their women, you foul sorceress! Come, Kothor!”

Kothor stared at Roke as he got onto the dragon. The dragon fled, and the guards cheered, hoisting She-Ra up into the air. She-Ra looked more disheveled now; her hair was all down, and her eyes didn’t quite shine. They looked tired. Fatigued. Overloaded with horrid images of war, of bleeding people, dying, begging in their last moments for peace. Glimmer looked into those eyes. She saw looming dread in them. And Glimmer felt that dread.

* * *

Afterward, Adora transformed back into herself. Glimmer called her into the throne room for a ‘security meeting’. 

“You wanted to see me, my queen?”

“Adora,” Glimmer looked down, “I wanted to thank you for saving my life. You didn’t have to do tha-”

“You’re the queen. I definitely had to do that.” 

“Adora.” Glimmer looked up. “I know you don’t like me. I get it. What I said was wrong. But...thank you.” She smiled softly. 

“...all in a day’s work, my queen.” Adora said. 

“Wait, one more thing-”

“Glimmer, now isn’t the time to talk about our personal lives, you were just ATTA-”

“It’s NOT about that!” Glimmer said. “You...Roke thinks you’re way easier to talk to. He looked upset that the rapier guy was with Skeletor.” She teleported back to the throne. “Find out how they knew each other...and see if you, my new security council head,” She smirked, “can find a certain shape shifting defector.”

“...Double Trouble has been in the palace?”

“They’ve been here a while. We took them in when they defected, but they seem to have a nasty habit of sneaking out of their cell.” 

“So construct an actual jail?”

“With what money? We’re still paying back war debt!” Glimmer said. “Just...see if you can find them.”

“Yes, my queen.” Adora wandered out of the throne room. Glimmer sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This wasn;t going to go very smoothly, she could tell.

* * *

“Kothor was...a sort of training partner, I suppose is a good way to say it?” Roke confided to Adora. “He and I are around the same age. We sparred most of the time.” he smiled gently. “He and I don’t oppose too much on style, but he got more into the dueling aesthetic, I guess.” 

“Is that the weird hat and stuff?” Bow asked. “Seahawk might like that guy.”

“Who?”

“Not important,” Adora said. “Could he be training Skeletor’s army?”

“If he is, then we might have some trouble fighting them.” he said. “Kothor was incredibly skilled. I...I looked up to him in a lot of respects.”

Adora hugged Roke. “Having an evil friend isn’t new to me...it’s rough.” She patted his back. “But if we can get him to defect, we’ll be better off.” Adora said. “Then we’ll have another Graethite instructor, right?”

Roke smiled. “We will.” 

“Speaking of,” Adora pulled away, “I might wanna try some sort of meditation work some time. It might be helpful.”

“I’d be glad to be of help to you.” 

Before much more could be said, a guard came to the door. “Adora? You’re needed.” Adora got up to go, and when she got outside and closed the door, the guard...changed lightly. 

“I heard you were looking for me?”

“Huh?”

The guard changed completely to…

“Double Trouble?”

“I’ve been sneaking around for a while...is that floor really a prison? Or is it just spare rooms?”

“Just spare rooms, what-”

“I wanna help you, sweetie.” Double Trouble put their index finger under Adora’s chin and tilted upward. “I think I could figure out what big bad skully boy’s up to.”

“And how would you do that? You don’t even know where he is.” 

“I know how to find what I need...but you’re my new boss. SO what do you wanna hear?” They pulled back and put their hands behind their back. 

“I...guess I am your boss now, huh?” Adora nodded. “I want you to try and find out how his troops are trained.”

“Can do, boss. Gimme a week.” They thought. “Hmm...week and a half?”

“Deal.”

“Great. You go and make up with the queen now. See ya!”

“WAIT, what!?” Adora looked angry. “You don’t...d-don’t talk about that! That’s MY thing to deal with.”

“Oh, is it now?” Double Trouble shifted into Adora. “Maybe I should handle it then?”

“Why do you even care?”

“I  _ love  _ the drama, darling.” DT shifted back, and they walked away. “I’ll see you when I see you, boss.”

“...sure thing.”

* * *

“You hesitated, Kothor.” 

“He’s my  _ friend,  _ Skeletor. You know that.” 

“If he is truly your friend, then we may convince him to join us!” Skeletor said. “We must plan.”

“My lord, if I may interrupt,” Kothor looked up at him, “There is another matter we must attend to. That of recruitment?”

“Hah! I need not recruit when I can create, Kothor.” Skeletor laughed. “Although…perhaps recruiting instructors might be a good idea?”

“I know just where to look, my lord...the best swordsmen are in Plumeria.” he said. “That is where Graenoth is buried. I can find swordsmen there.”

“Excellent. Go, then, find swords. Recruit blades to teach ours! Then, the world will be ours even quicker!” Skeletor laughed maniacally. Soon…yes, soon, the world would be his!


	6. Further Research

VI

When Skeletor returned to see his prince of beasts

He was met by something much to his peril

He and his gray men had found the beasts revolting!

Many of his gray army had been gnawed to their deaths and picked to the bone

Such revolts angered Skeletor, and he was unhappy

“Holmar,” He cried, “What has your army done?” But Holmar gnashed his teeth, and revealed a rider on his back, the hero, Graenoth!

“I serve a new master, Skeletor, one who does not starve my people, one who does not keep us as slaves.” Holmar gnashed his teeth again

Skeletor, in his awesome power, struck Holmar with magics and brought the beast to his knees. 

From him, sprung Graenoth, leveled to the ground by the height of his fall

And from this vantage point, Skeletor, ruled Brightmoon, and ruled it with an iron fist, forcing himself upon the queen and murdering the king

Holmar was killed, and Graenoth, thought dead, was buried under the earth

And Skeletor laughed as he looked over his new realm

“We shall enslave them all, and become rich with their own wealth,

And we shall become their new gods, glorious and hard of heart!”

As swift as it has been told, friend, is as swift as it occurred

The people, having lost their new found companions, the beasts, and newfound hero, Graenoth, descended into panic 

The world seemed chaotic, and daily children cried and men and women bled in revolts

Skeletor did not care, nor did he ever intend to

Yes, this was a dark time to be an Etherian

VII

Graenoth, buried under the earth, regained himself after 2 years, living off of moles, worms, bugs, and other such horrendous things

A voice spoke to him. “Graenoth,” it said, “I am Pastrea, goddess of heroes, and victory.”

“What do you command of me, Pastrea?”

“I have made you a sword, and with it, you may channel ancient powers beyond your comprehension. And by the Power of Grayskull, you shall become He-Man, a defender of all Etherians.”

“How may I reach this sword?”

“I shall remove you from your earthly tomb, and from there, I shall guide you.”

With a blast of wind and force, the ground shook, and from it, came him, Graenoth, hero and He-Man, restored to his former health and strength by pastrea! 

Graenoth was guided by pastrea to Shamosel*, and was gifted the sword there. 

It was a fine weapon, glorious in make and craft, well balanced, fitting his hand perfectly. Inside of its hilt was a rune stone, a fine pink. “This,” Pastrea said, “Is how you shall channel the ancient powers.”

“How, goddess, can I save the world? The king is dead, the queen is at her wits end, and the armies are too strong.”

“As He-Man, you may do anything, and many things the She-Ra could do,” She said, “But alas, a She-Ra is not to be named for generations to come. You shall start Etheria’s line of He-Man, and you shall train the young to fight for all things just and noble.”

“It is Pastrea’s will.” He said. “That I shall start the order, and that we shall save the world.”

VII

When Graenoth returned from his tomb, he fought off countless gray men to reach his destination, Bright Moon. 

“Hah! So you have escaped!” Skeletor said, unafraid, for he had taken the kingdom in a matter of weeks, no mere man would be of trouble to him! 

“Bring yourself closer, boy,” He said, “I wish to defeat you while in my throne!”

“The throne is not yours,”, Graenoth said. “By the power of Grayskull!”

With this, he transformed, and became even taller than before

He grew to the size of Skeletor, and then larger, standing near 1 and a 3rd high**

His voice, which boomed before, now crashed its waves on distant planets

He was a formidable, well armored man. 

“Foolish as you are,” Skeletor laughed, “To believe you are invulnerable to my magic!”

Skeletor launched a spell at him, but when it hit him the armor absorbed it

Skeletor reared back in horror. “Gads!” He rushed down and tried to spear him

The spear was long, but he was not quick enough with it, and He-Man parried and pulled him to the ground

When Graenoth tried to end him rightly, however, the sword skirted away from him!

“You fool!” Skeletor leapt up, and formed a circle. “Only the She-Ra can truly defeat me, you can only destroy my armies!” 

“Then what shall you do!?”

“A wise man knows when he has been ousted,” he said, “I shall return in many generations, when the world has been struck by a horrible Horde, and when the will of the Etherians has sunk to near nothing! That is when I shall conquer the world!” And with that, he disappeared in a portal, never to be seen again

IX

The world was restored to its peace, and Pastrea, when requested by the He-Man, destroyed the gray men   
The kingdom returned to order, and while many asked to see Graenoth, or the He-Man, and while the queen wanted him as a husband, he disappeared into Shamosel*, to begin his order

And when he died, he ascended to godhood, becoming the patron of Heroes, and the god of swords and swordplay

And his order shall live on, until the next time of crisis, when a phoenix shall rise from the ashes

And in its peril, he shall train the next He-Man, who, along with the last She-Ra, will save the world once more, so say the seers

The seers may only see so far, and they may only see so truly

Perhaps the world shall be saved by the She-Ra and He-Man, perhaps not

Perhaps the great horde shall destroy us before then, perhaps not

Even with seers, there are few absolutes, as the fates like to take more control than we would like to have as mortals

LO

The world of Etheria was saved by Graenoth, who made his order and ascended to godhood. 

PRAISE to Graenoth

PRAISE to Pastrea

PRAISE to Ilthos, All Mother

PRAISE to the He-Man

PRAISE to the She-Ra

PRAISE to Pithonae†

_ *Shamosel is the name of an ancient orphan rock in Plumeria, now called Sword Rock _

_ **1 and a 3rd is referring to an old form of measuring height, which was in barrels _

_ †Pithonae is the goddess of storytellers, and her name can be found at the end of most ancient Etherian texts _

* * *

“This myth sure does go back a while, huh?” Adora looked it over and sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Your dad did a good job on the translation.”

“I’ll let him know you think that!” Bow said, smiling his typical Bow smile. “So, we need to find this Adam guy...where could he be?”

“Maybe somewhere near Sword Rock? If I liked where I lived and had been away for a while, I might try and go back.”

“Maybe.” Bow nodded. “We have to find Sword Rock...was there just a giant rock in Plumeria that we kinda just missed?”

Adora shrugged. “Maybe it’s Sword  _ Tree  _ now?”

“If anyone can find it, it’s probably Perfuma.” Adora said. “I vote you go and ask her to look. I’ve got...some stuff I need to do.” Adora put the book away and yawned, stretching. “But first...I need to sleep.” She walked to her old room. “Hey, Bow, I’m glad to be back,” She said, “Even if I’m still not sure what Glimmer thinks.” 

“Hey, don’t dwell on that.” 

“Hard not to.”

“Well, then do dwell on it!” He said. “She’s free all day tomorrow, plenty of time to talk stuff out!” He leaned on a bookcase. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Besides, she totally still likes you, I’ve had to hear her talk about it for nearly a year.” Adora laughed.

“Thanks, Bow.” With that, Adora walked to bed.

* * *

Adora awoke in a sort of mead hall. The longhouse was lit by several fires, and from the inside came roars of laughter, banging, fighting, and songs of old heroes. She found herself sitting across from someone...a tall, dark skinned woman, with long black hair and armor. She was strong. She was beautiful. 

“Adora.” 

“...yep?” 

“I am Pastrea.” She said. “I am an ancient goddess, and most people do not worship me anymore...I am survived by, at this point, one or two men of the old Graethite order.”

“... _ You’re Pastrea?”  _

“I am.” She replied. “I come to tell you of your fate.”

“What about it?”

“You will, when the day comes, strike down Skeletor. And I shall be summoned by you to banish his essence, so it may never be seen again.” 

“Okay, so, why are you telling me this?”

“Because Graenoth’s champion will ask Graenoth to defeat the armies of Skeletor.”

“So, wait, I’m confused.” Adora furrowed a brow. “Everyone in that old book said I was more powerful than He-Man. You’re, like, the goddess of wars and heroes and stuff! Why don’t YOU demolish the army?” Before Adora could ask much more, Pastrea laughed; a loud, hearty laugh. 

“Any god can demolish an army, and anyone could summon Graenoth! But only She-Ra can summon a goddess of my stature, and only a goddess of my stature could concentrate such an evil essence and seal it away for good.” 

“Which one has to happen first?” 

“You must destroy Skeletor before his armies can be fully defeated by Graenoth.” She said. 

“Alright…” She-Ra nodded. “I’m in.”

“I’d hoped you would be.” She said. “For if you weren’t, the world would be left to rot as dust.” 

“Well, since you’re telling me the victory is guaranteed, I might just chill here for a b-”

“No victory is guaranteed.” Pastrea said. She leaned in. “There is a possibility that you will fail. Our seers, and the goddess of seers, refuse to tell us either way. They disagree...such is the power of Skeletor’s essence, it blocks other magic. We cannot see what he will do. We can only tell you what must happen to win.”

“Oh.” Adora looked down. “No pressure, huh?”

“Hah!” Pastrea laughed. “It will be easy, I assure you. Especially for a woman of your renown.” 

“So...can I still chill up here for a bit, or…?”

Pastrea shook her head, but kept her smile. “You will see more of this realm when you die, Adora, last of the She-Ras.” 

“Wait, Last? You’re gonna leave me on  _ LAST OF THE-” _

_ “SHE-RAS!?”  _

Adora woke up. She felt rested, but...confused. 

This ancient stuff, man...no joking around with it. 


	7. Words That Must Be Said

Winters were not particularly harsh in Bright Moon. A lot of snow, sure, but nothing dangerous. This one was different. The snow was beginning to fall, and the air was crisp. Roke, standing guard and trying out a few young candidates for his new order, could see his breath, and wore a thick tunic under his mail, as the metal was frigid. Indeed, the world seemed to be freezing over. 

Inside the throne room, a roaring fire had been lit, and civil questions had been called off for the day. Glimmer sighed as she read over a few different reports. Mostly finances and things. 

“...we’ll be able to balance the land owner’s tax once the war debt is paid off. Other than that, it seems like everything is as low as it can be without putting us in the hole,” her financial advisor, Finara, said. “I don’t see any issue with the current situation. You’ve done well to stay out of trouble.”

“Well, there’s another war coming.” She said. “How will we do through that?”

“We did have a magnificent summer for crops,” She said, “Our food can come from the surplus we’ve stocked. It would lower our export gains if we kept most of it, but...well, we’d just have to keep up the land owner’s tax a while longer.”

“Seems like a good option. Can you get all of that in motion?”

“I certainly can, your majesty.” 

“Perfect.” 

It seemed to be another dull day after that...sitting and waiting for an emergency. The security council was meeting tomorrow about the skeletor situation. It seemed like everything was in place to be successful.

Then the doors swung open. 

“Adora?” Glimmer’s face shifted from confused, to delighted, to concerned, and then...back to confused. What was she doing here?

“Your majesty,” Adora spoke, “Can we talk? Privately?”

“I don’t see why not.” She said. “Stop kneeling, you’re She-Ra.”

“I was just trying to be polite, your maje-”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT ADORA!” Glimmer roared, standing in front of the throne. Adora looked jarred. 

“...Adora, I’m sorry, I-I shouldn’t have shouted.” She walked down. “I’ve just been on edge. And this is a touchy subject.”

“I know.” Adora said, looking down at her. 

“You can call me Glimmer. You know that, right?” She asked. “You’re on the security council, you’re allowed to just call me that. We were almost-”

“Glimmer.” Adora spoke sternly and looked down. Her eyes softened, and almost teared up. “Do,” She hesitated, “Do you still love me?” She asked. “I know that what I did and what I said wasn’t...great. And I know I should have gone into the portal, and I know I let you and everyone down.”

“Adora, I-” She didn’t know what to say. Did she really think that? Did she believe all of that, even after all this time? She believed some reactionary, spur of the moment things she said without even thinking about them?

“Adora, I need you to know one thing.” She said. “I never,  _ ever,  _ meant  _ any  _ of what I said that last time.” She looked down. “Not a thing.” She huffed. “I was angry. No one was taking me seriously, and you seemed to be treating me like I couldn’t do my job. I didn’t know how to respond to that!” She added. “I’ve been talked down to my whole life! I always get upset when people do that, I still do!” She held Adora’s hand. “But...you didn’t know that, and I didn’t know how to tell you, and I said the worst thing I could have possibly said to you.” 

“Glimmer, you’re...shaking.” Glimmer collapsed into Adora, openly weeping, her tears brushing up against Adora’s new red tunic, provided by Roke. Adora patted her back. “It’s okay. You’re okay...I know we both made mistakes. I’m right here.” She kissed the top of her head. “I still love you. I still want to be yours.” 

“I-I wanna be yours too, Adora.” Glimmer spoke through sobs. “Even though it’s been forever, I still feel like I could never get over you.”

“I could never get over you, either.” 

“It would have been our wedding day a few weeks ago.” Glimmer looked up. “I don’t know if you would want to do that, but-” 

Glimmer hadn’t felt those lips in a long time. She remembered them differently than they were. Perhaps it was because the last she’d tasted them was the summer time, when they were fuller. Now they were chapped, somewhat cracked in places, split, possibly from yelling at herself in the mirror or, more innocently, the dry winter air. But she loved them all the same. 

“I love you, Adora.”

“I love you, too, Glimmer.” 

* * *

Elsewhere in the palace, Scorpia peered around, looking for a certain...person. She checked in most of the spare rooms, finding a weird looking sword guy, the crop top dude, and eventually, success! She opened the door to the prison. Sure, the guards were told specifically not to let anyone in, but I ask the reader to get anywhere near Scorpia and tell her  _ not  _ to go somewhere she  _ wants  _ to go. 

I wouldn’t, either. 

In any case, she walked in and closed the door. “Catra?” She asked. 

Balled up in the center of the room was Catra. She looked up and sighed. “Oh. Hey, Scorpia.” 

“Hey, pal.” She sat across from her. “Can I be honest for a bit?”

“Sure.” Catra sounded as hopeless as someone could sound. Here she was, captured by the rebellion, forced to talk to someone who she knew hated her deep down, and unsure of where she was going. 

“So, last time we talked, we sorta made up. Right?” 

“I guess.” Catra said. “A few weeks ago at this point.” 

“Yep. I forgave you for a lot of stuff.” Scorpia said. “This is kind of a follow up. How’re ya feelin’, wildcat?”

“What?” Catra asked. 

“Y’know, how’re things going? I mean, this is hardly a prison, they give you nice food...you’re basically under house arrest in a  _ much  _ nicer house than you were in before, and who knows? They might let you out early if you beha-”

“STOP IT.” Catra yelped. Scorpia was jarred. Catra sighed. “Just stop.” She said. “I don’t like this. I. Will.  _ Never. _ Like this.” Catra sat up. “Do you know what they should have done to me?” She asked. “They should have dragged me to the queen’s chambers for her to kill me personally. But I guess we got kinda close or whatever on Horde Prime’s ship, so now she wants to work me into the rebellion somehow. BUT THEN the council was all ‘oh, but she was evil! We should kill her because she’s evil!’ and  _ now,  _ she’s keeping me alive until we figure out what to do.” 

“So there’s a chance you could live, right? That’s a good thi-”

“That’s not the point, Scorpia! I have been in limbo for nearly a YEAR at this point! Now I get to watch my ex come back and get a hero’s welcome and I get to see everyone around me flourish while I stay in some sort of bureaucratic fever dream!” She was clearly not pleased, pacing around the room. “I’m like, a criminal and a hero at the same time! One side of the council wants me dead, the other wants me praised, the  _ queen  _ has no idea what to do, and I HATE being stuck!” She punched a shield on the wall hard enough to dent the thin, display specific metal. She collapsed onto one of the couches. “I at least had some sort of role in the Horde.” She lamented. “Back there I knew how to live my life. Here?” She scoffed. “They don’t even know if I get to live or not.” 

“Hey, Wildcat, c’mere.” Catra was enveloped in a hug from Scorpia, which are indeed hard hugs to break free from. She fell into the hug and sighed. “Yikes, Catra, you’ve got a lot of stuff going on.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” She said. She purred a little and hugged Scorpia back, not quite getting her arms across the broad woman. She sighed and choked up. “It’s all just going downhill real fast. As if my life wasn’t already pretty low.”

“Well, look at it this way,” Scorpia said, using a claw to brush a bit of hair away from Catra’s face. “You’re only able to go up from here. If they wanted to actually kill you? Trust me. Would’ve done it.” 

“And how do you know?”

“They have a prison overcrowding problem apparently.” Scorpia said. 

“Must be running out of guest rooms at the Hotel Brightmoon.” 

“Did you know we could have held, like, 10,000 prisoners at the Fright Zone? Here they can hole, like, 30!”

Catra scoffed. “I bet they punish people here with a slap on the wrist and restriction of their dessert rations or something.” Catra laughed and stood up. “Seriously, though, you...need to vouch for me or something. I wanna go anywhere that isn’t here.”

“I bet…” 

“Hey, Scorpia, thanks for at least forgiving me.” Catra awkwardly looked up. “I was a jerk back then.”

“Water under the bridge. Well, most of it, but still.” Scorpia patted her shoulder. “I’m gunnin’ fer your freedom, wildcat. Don’t you forget it.” 

“I won’t.”

* * *

Night started to fall, and in the halls, the clicking and clacking of heels down the way toward Glimmer’s room could be heard. Glimmer stirred, watching Adora sleep like a rock. She got up, hearing the heels. 

“...who’s there?”

A struggle. A harsh one, too. “I was just-”

“You have a knife!”

“I’m a spy!” 

“You’ve got a  _ contract! _ ” 

“I was...going to give it to the queen!” 

“At this hour?”

Glimmer was, for the most part, a popular figure in the kingdom. But there were those who had their doubts, about both her and the causes she championed. A large enough group of royal staff, for example, believed that the kingdom should still be reliant on Mystacor for its defense, whereas Glimmer was moving towards more home grown alternatives. But this would mean some royal advisors would be quite...jobless. 

So they decided to try and kill her. And one was caught in the act by Roke. 

“Roke!?” Glimmer lit up a spell, and the assassin, a security council member, started for her. Roke was too soft. He couldn’t see this man die, he’d broken to tears when he almost had to fight one person, this could prove to be too much. Glimmer loathed having to kill in front of him, but-

“GAH!” The councilman roared in pain, and wore an expression of terror. The blade had struck him in the side. Roke pulled it away, and quickly, he fell. Roke ended him rightly, driving the sword through his heart. He stood, his sword covered in blood, and his expression blank. 

“...he hit me first.” Roke shyly spoke, seeming a little shocked. 

“Roke, are you alright!?” Glimmer walked closer to him. “I just...didn’t think you had it in you to actually follow through with something like that.”

“I don’t come off as particularly strong willed, do I?”

“You’ve cried every other time I’ve seen you and your face gets flushed whenever you’re around anyone with any iota of authority, so no. You don’t.”

“Well, when you put it like  _ that,  _ I-”

“Roke.” She sighed. Adora shuffled in the room and came down. 

“Glimmer, wha-WHOA!” She gasped. “Body!”

“Yes, we know, Adora,” Glimmer crossed her arms, “We’re well aware.” 

“So you stabbed him?” Adora asked Glimmer. 

“Roke stabbed him.” 

“ _ Roke? _ Softie over there?” 

“I’m not that soft!” 

“Roke, you cried when Bow dropped his sweet roll.” 

“LET’S GET OURSELVES TOGETHER, and talk about what just happened.” Glimmer sighed and interrupted the two. “An attempt was just made  _ on my life. _ I could have been killed! Am I the only one who seems to know what that means!?”

Glimmer was hyperventilating, leaning into Adora. “Now there’s a dead body on my floor and I don’t know where else they could be!”

“I can get someone to clean up here.” Roke said. “And I’ll stay on watch.” 

“They’re  _ councilmen,  _ Roke, they’re my Staff.” She huffed. “It’s impossible to know.”

“You’ll be safe.” Adora looked at Glimmer. “I promise. If  _ Roke  _ could kill one of them? It should be easy.” 

“Adora,” Glimmer looked up at her, with angered, but also fearful, eyes. “This isn’t a time for jokes.”

“I’m sorry.” Adora said. She hugged Glimmer as tight as she could. “Find a guard and get this cleaned up, Roke.” Roke nodded and scurried off to find someone. Adora dragged Glimmer back to bed. “I’m sorry this all is happening.”

“It’s fine.” Glimmer said. “As long as I’m able to teleport, I should be fine.” She kissed Adora, and let out a shaking, choked sigh. “I’m scared.” 

“I’ve got you.” Adora said. “I’m right here.” 

“Thank you, Adora.”

“Not a problem, Glimmer.” Neither got much sleep that night. A second war looming over head, a sudden assassination plot...it was a lot to handle. Tbhe best they could hope for was an easier day tomorrow. 


	8. Trinkets From Home

“Roke.” Queen Glimmer spoke from her throne. Roke, in his full raiment, knelt. 

“My queen?” 

“For your heroic deeds, you shall be honored as a hero of the Realm of Bright Moon.” She pinned a small star to his left sleeve, at the edge of his wrist. He stood. 

“Go now, and protect your kingdom.” The investigations would begin later that afternoon...but Roke had other plans. Glimmer spoke again. “Roke, you mentioned you had business in Plumeria?” 

“Yes.” He said. “I figure that I need some things from the monastery at Sword Rock to complete the rebuilding of the order.” Roke had a few ‘students’, mostly guards, Adora, and this strange cat woman he’d found in the basement, that Scorpia introduced him to. 

“Very well. Do you need any assistance?” 

“With the gray men’s expeditions being more...pronounced these days, I’d like to bring along Bow.” 

“Wait. Me?” Bow pointed. “Why me?” 

“I mean, I could use  _ someone  _ whose range was more than 3 feet and some change.” He said. 

“Y’know? That’s fair.” 

“The investigations will be just fine, here. Right, Adora?”

Adora walked into the room, and stood next to...herself. She batted the imposter’s arm. “Double Trouble, you’re an ally now, remember?”

“Oh?” DT changed back. “I’ll admit, it’s fun being you. Does glimmer always give you those eyes?” Glimmer blushed deeply, her face going beet red. 

“They’re  _ really convincing,  _ alright, Adora?”

“What have you got about Skeletor?”

“ _ Loads,  _ darling. But looks like Bow and his sword buddy here are gonna go hunt for a rock or something. I’ll tell you later, Bow.”

“...sure.” Bow said. He walked with Roke. 

“So, all the way to Plumeria, huh?” 

“Not long on horseback.” Roke saddled up, wearing full armor and everything. He was admittedly pretty proud of what he’d done the night before, but he wasn’t one to flaunt it. He did stand a bit taller, though. 

“Why not sick some Graethite students on the Gray men in Plumeria?”

“No one is nearly ready enough...but the one with the big hair said she had a plan to make robots or something?”

“Entrapta? Yeah, she’s working out battle bots. Neat stuff if you get into the schematics!” As Bow regaled Roke with information, the two came across a river, one that could easily be forded by the horses. 

“Ahoy, there, Bow!” 

“Seahawk!?” Bow looked over. “I  _ know  _ him, he’s good! He’s really good, I promise. We gotta bring him along.” 

“I dunno,” Roke looked...less than enthused. “Is that a tall ship? In this part of the river? He didn’t really think he could sail that thing up  _ this  _ fa-What in the name of-!?”

The boat set on fire, and Seahawk came rushing to the two. “Bow! Hello, my fine, dear friend!” He got onto Bow’s horse and held onto Bow’s waist without asking questions. “Let’s get going!”

“Don’t you want to know where we’re headed? And how did you even manage to get that boat up he-”

“ _ ADVENTURE!”  _ Seahawk pointed outward in...what was presumably the direction the two were going in. 

* * *

There was always beauty to be found in Plumeria; the blooming of wild mountain flowers and lush forests, surrounded by walls of fruit farms and other such plants found only there, and nowhere else on the entire planet. Gorgeous Satin Willows, Rosie Oaks as tall as mountains, and green maize growing as far as the eye could see. And at the center of it all was the newly crowned queen, Perfuma. To her subjects, truly the most beautiful woman on Etheria. To her allies, nearly a goddess of the harvest, providing more food than anyone else in the entirety of the alliance. 

It was a shame, then, that Roke, Seahawk, and Bow, came to see her in shambles. 

Fields were torn to pieces. Houses sacked. Villages burned to the ground. Perfuma hadn’t let on to it, but she had lost maybe a half mile or so of land to the east...it was just unusable now. The secret keeping was to hide embarrassment, to keep the alliance from a second war as long as she could. But her people knew. She knew. She stepped down from her Throne when the three came to it. 

“Bow? Seahawk?” 

“Perfuma...what’s going on here?” 

“The gray men are less...manageable than we thought.” Perfuma croaked out the words. 

Roke looked down. He felt...responsible somehow. “Perfuma, we...we came to look for something. I just need a cart to haul it back.”

“Of course, we can loan you one.” She said. 

“Thanks. I suppose we can repay you in troops?” Bow asked for Roke.

“That really won’t be necessary, Bow, I-”

“Perfuma.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re ready for a second war. And if Roke finds what he needs from Sword Rock? We’ll be able to train more people, faster. I promise.” 

Perfuma hugged Bow as tight as she could. “More troops and a declaration of emergency seems sensible.” 

“Fear not, dear Perfuma, we shall save your land from the invaders!” Seahawk majestically said. He looked around. “...which way is this Sword Rock place?”

“East.” Roke said. He got the cart hitched. 

“Are we gonna look for the He-Man?”

“If we can.” Roke said. He looked down. “I’m fearful we’re too late. His Pilgrimage has been overdue for weeks, I was certain he’d know to come to Bright Moon.” 

“So what is it we’re looking for at this blade boulder place?” Seahawk asked. 

“Sword Rock.”

“Messer Mountain?” 

“ _ Sword Rock. _ ” Roke said. “We’re looking for the shield of Graenoth.” He added. “That, and the reading stone.” 

“What’s the reading stone?”

“It connects the sword to Graenoth. From its use, he can judge your worthiness and such.” he said. “If you use it to kill innocents, or something worse, then it’s destroyed in the stone. If you’re truly just, then it blesses the sword. It’s necessary for anyone who wishes to be an instructor.”

“Can it do something like this?” Seahawk got out his sword, and Roke sorta...looked at it funny. 

“Never seen one of those, but...I mean, it’s sword shaped? I figure it could work?”

“Perfect! Imagine the adventures one could go on as an instructor and warrior for a bunch of sword wizard people!”

“Well, it’s a bit more complicated than th-” 

They stopped in their tracks. There was a group of them. Gray men, in Gray robes, looking around the woods. Somehow, by some miracle, they’d managed not to be spotted. Roke, Seahawk, and Bow, dismounted the horses and got themselves ready, as the gray men looked around. 

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Bow whispered, “I’ll use a net arrow to capture one of them, and take it in to see what it is. Then you and Seahawk get the other three.” Roke nodded. 

“Which are you going for?”

“Far left.” 

“I’ll get the one in the middle, he’s off guard, doesn’t have anything drawn. Seahawk, what about y-”

Seahawk stood and got out his sword. “Pillage THIS, evildoers!” Without a second thought, Seahawk just rushed 4 armored men with large swords. Truly a paragon of strategic combat, this one. 

Bow sighed. “Sometimes I don’t know what I see in him!” He aimed a net. 

“Are you two a thing?”

“I mean, sometimes I’d  _ like  _ to be, but- that’s not important!” Bow let the arrow fly, and landed the net right on his target. 

Roke rushed one, parrying an attack with his buckler and kicking it to the ground. He stabbed it in the throat, the only exposed part, and it bled...strange black ooze. Its facial expression didn’t change. These weren’t men. 

_ These were clones.  _

Roke cleaved into the shoulder of the other one, and Seahawk parried a few strikes, before giving it the same treatment. “Good swordsmanship, eh, sword boy? Do you have a name?”

“Roke.” 

“Ah! I thought that was...a shoe or something.” 

“It means phoenix.” he said. “But I guess it’s a shoe sounding name, now that you mention it.”

Bow got closer and through the clone in the cart. “Phew...there we go.” He sighed. “Now...Sword Rock.”

“That way.” 

The group pushed on, and saw...a large boulder, really. A boulder with an entrance carved into it. The top had a sword sticking out of it, the sword of the second abbot of the order, Vusko. Roke looked up, and fell to his knees when he saw it. He teared up, and tried to keep his crying from being too loud.

“Home.” He whispered. “The ones who came before us put this here to seal off an ancient evil. But when the serpent was slain, it became our home.” He smiled and looked up. “The bodies are probably still in there.”

“Bodies?”

“Im one of the last, remember? They didn’t bury themselves.” 

Surreally, it seems Skeletor had taken the bodies, but not the swords. Strewn about were person shaped outlines and swords, shields, bucklers, daggers, and other such things. Before doing anything, Roke placed them in a small grotto on the inside of the cave, in divetts in the limestone. “This was the order’s mourning room.” He said. “A slot for every member was made, and the sword was put there until 3 weeks had passed. Then it was put in the catacombs.”

“Wow, Roke, this place is...bigger than I thought.” Bow patted his shoulder. “Powerful coming back, isn’t it?”

Roke sniffled. “It is.” 

“Roke! I’ve found this absolutely wonderful shield in a storage crate somewhere, which totally wasn’t inside of a room that I picked the lock on!”

“The shield!” He took it. “We’ll need that. Thanks, seahawk.” 

“Of course! Now where’s that reading stone?” 

“Let me show you.” Roke walked through the dimly lit halls, lit only by small skylights. He walked into a room near the forge. There it was. A rather simple looking stone, really. It had some engraving on it in ancient Etherian.

“Thus saith Graenoth,” Roke read, “pierce the wall of spirit and flesh, and I shall judge you worthy or non.”

“Sounds poetic! Like the time I wrote a poem about my 8th boat, the one I tried to sail up the river an-”

Footsteps. Faster, and faster, rushing through the halls. “Legras? Shell? Tinei? Anyone!?” The footsteps stopped…

The man wore training garments; a white tunic with black trousers and a purple cape. He had an incredibly ornate sword with him, a runestone in the pommel. It was the sword of Graenoth. He was blonde, with blue eyes, and long, braided hair. He sighed and heaved in air. He had been running. 

“Roke...it happened?” 

“Adam.” Roke nodded. “It has.” He said. “I am your new abbot. We came to fetch the shield and the stone.”

“...I’m coming with you!” 

“Well, I’d HOPE so,” Bow said, “YOU’RE the Adam guy we were talking about?”

“I mean, yeah!” He said. “And if I need to be He-Man, then I need to be He-Man. We haven’t got time,” Adam clearly had a bit more gusto than Roke already. “We need to get going! I was being chased!” 

“By what!?”

At least 20 gray men stood between them and the horses, who were, for their parat, doing a good job of kicking them away. 

“We’re gonna die here.” Bow said. “This is NOT how I wanted to go out, for the record!”

“Adam,” Roke said, “You remember how to invoke it?” 

“Look, I’m a tad rusty alright? It’s been a while!”

“Please, Adam, we need you to say the words!”

“I can hardly remember any of that stuff, I was a little tied up!” The two spoke as they fought. 

“Will you two Stop bickering and help me fight off these countless hundreds of men!?” Seahawk exclaimed, charging a small group of them, and doing surprisingly well. Bow netted a few, and glued some others, but it was clear, they’d need a miracle. 

“By the power of GRAYSKULL!”

A flash. A bright one. A shockwave of light. A man in golden armor, similar to She-Ra’s, and the shield of Graenoth guarding him. He was He-Man. He-Man swiftly cut down the gray men, showing no mercy, and cutting many of them in half. “You shall not enter my temple! Not now, not ever again!” And in moments...they were safe. And He-Man had turned back to Adam. Bow looked...shocked. Seahawk looked amused. And Roke looked hopeful. 

“...your training is complete.” 

“But I haven’t even do-”

“It’s complete...return to Bright Moon with us.” He held out his hand. “The planet needs you, Adam.” He smiled gently. “Please?”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Adam took his hand. “Now...where’s Bright Moon?”


	9. Fate

A month passed between the discovery of Adam. 

A month.

Double Trouble had arrived from yet another successful mission, but due to unforeseen circumstances he had been forced to come to Plumeria. He had somehow managed it. 

Along the border, the gray sea swallowed farmland. Houses and villages were raised to the ground. The Crown Jewel of Bright Moon, and by extension the entirety of the alliance, Bright Moon’s Cavalry, had been able to thwart invasion attempts and disrupt supply lines. But it was a fool’s hope. More and more children, sons and daughters of Plumerian farmers and crafters, would come into the walls, escorted by the cavalry. More and more helmets, horse armor, and army pennants were racking up inside the makeshift, log fortress.

Glimmer had come.

“Q-Queen...Queen Glimmer...we have to do something...your cavalry have been here for weeks! Mermista’s navy has helped from the coast line, and-”

“Perfuma.” Queen Glimmer held her hand, and clenched it tightly. “I’ve come here to extract Double Trouble and aid in your evacuation.”

“Evacuation!?” Double Trouble seemed confused. “Your armies have been campaigning for a month! And you want to just pull the plug now!?”

“Double Trouble, there’s no hope.” She said. 

“Glimmer, there’s always hope!” Perfuma looked desperate.

“My Queen,” one of Glimmer’s generals, Spurra, spoke, “the Gray Sea’s cavalry water their horses in the Zoln!”

Another general spoke. “You can hear their advance during the day from the eastern wall!”

“From the town of Ilser, their pennants block the sun!”

“The sound of their drums carries on the wind!”

The air in the room was tense. Perfuma spoke with a lump in her throat and tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“Double Trouble...what did you find?”

“It’s not encouraging news, but it’s news all the same. They’re pumping those clones out like mad...they want to use Plumeria’s crops to feed themselves and their Etherian commanders, then use it as a staging ground to lay siege to Bright Moon.”

“A-and what of Dryl?”

“Dryl has been...Dryl has kept them from our northeast border, Perfuma.” DT spoke. “They’re having issues up there.”

“Perfuma…” Glimmer hugged her tightly. “I wish there was more I could do. But my armies are barely rebuilt from the previous wars, and we’re stretched thin providing aid to Salineas and the Kingdom of Snows.” She looked up. “We will take back Plumeria for you again.” Her eyes were lit with determination, determination not seen in Angella’s eyes, not even seen in Micah’s. These were the eyes of a heroic queen, forged in battle and war. 

“We will take it back from them. They won’t keep it. We’ll push them from Bright Moon, and defeat them so decisively that they won’t even be able to run half of a brigade. Then we take back Plumeria.”

Perfuma looked at her, and saw her confidence. She felt like no matter what, Glimmer would do what she could. Gone were the days of elegantly sidestepping battle. This was a war. And in a war, one must make swift decisions...and a swift decision came from Perfuma.

“Burn the fields.” 

“...Perfuma?”

“We have such good soil in Plumeria.” She said. “It has survived wildfires, droughts, blizzards...we can’t let the Gray Sea get its hands on those supplies.” She sighed. “...my people will have to become refugees. Do you have enough food?”

“I...uhm…” Glimmer had no idea how to even  _ respond.  _ She knew that Perfuma could be good in battle, but something this drastic?

“I suppose we could have the heavier cavalry ship out food and people. They have more carriages.”

“We’ll harvest through nightfall. Tomorrow morning, we’ll load it up.” General Spurra of the Cavalry spoke. “At dawn, the hussars burn what remains and the cuirassiers and quartermasters begin the march back.” Perfuma...hesitated. 

“...for the people of Plumeria.” She looked down. “I want to save the land, but...what use is the land if no one is there to work it?”

Spurra looked over to an aid. “Take your mount and alert the generals of what you’ve heard.”

“Yes, General.  _ Hyah!”  _ A whinny. Galloping. 

A plan set in motion. 

* * *

“Adam,” Adora spoke, getting on her training gambeson, “I dunno about this whole summoning gods thing.” She said. “I didn’t even worship them. Not exactly a religious bunch in the horde.”

“Trust me, it’s easy. You summon Pastrea when the time is right, and I summon Graenoth.” 

“Uh-huh. And just how do we do that?”

“Well, I...uhh…” Adam thought. “I dunno. I never thought about it.”

“Well, maybe that’s a Roke question?”

“Wait, maybe we just, like...pray to them. In that form. To summon them.”

Adora furrowed a brow. “Are you serious? For starters, I don’t even  _ know  _ how to pray. Again, the Horde wasn’t big on the godliness thing. And second, that just sounds way too easy.”

“Dude, it sounds pretty difficult, I can barely think about my surroundings when I’m in battle.”

“Did you just call me dude?”

“Yeah. Do you prefer something else?”   


“No, I’m just a little jarred, I-” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Nevermind.”

“So what do you do normally?”

“Around here? I train, I hang around, I help plan stuff...Bow and I have a good time. I also try to find time for my girlfriend.”

Adam smirked. “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Uhm...you’re not gonna believe who it is if I tell you.”

“Go ahead, dude, lemme hear it.” 

“...Queen Glimmer.” A proud smirk crossed Adora’s face. 

“ _ Duuuuuude!  _ The queen!?” Adam looked impressed. “Is it rude to be surprised?”

“Nah, not really. She and I, though, we’re...pretty in love with each other.” She said it casually, but they both knew she was bragging. “She’s only the best woman on the whole planet, no big deal.” Adora didn’t always get the opportunity to brag about this sorta thing. But in a room with two sword wielding jocks, bragging was gonna come about somehow. 

“How about you?” Adora asked. “They gotta have dates in the Graethites.”

“I dunno, man,” Adam got on a gambeson, finally, and picked up two wooden swords, tossing one to Adora, “I mean there were some cute guys but overall it’s pretty family like. It’d be weird dating someone from the order, y’know?”

He swung up from the left, getting parried. 

“I understand.” She huffed and swept his blade down, hoping to catch him before he could rebound. “I just-” It was unsuccessful, and he managed to push her away, making her stagger. 

“I mean, growing up with someone,” She said, getting back into a strong stance and blocking a high strike, “It can make that weird? But I was super in love with this girl from the horde...I think I still kinda am?”

“Sounds like-” He blocked a mid body attack and swung her, using brute force to push her back. “A lot of...baggage!” He swung a few more times, and finally hit her. 

“Phew...yeah, there’s...a lot of stuff going on there. I dunno where she is, I know she’s around the palace but I haven’t seen her anywhere.” She sighed. 

“Talking to her sounds like a good outlet for all of those pent up feelings, bro.” Adam picked her up off the ground. They returned to their corners. 

“I know.” This next round was incredibly quick, Adora faked high and went for a mid, getting him on the ground instantly. “Just...what would I say?” She picked him up. 

“Just tell her that even though you’ve moved on romantically, you still deeply care for her and appreciate her.” He swung again, trying to capitalize on her one weakness; quick, aggressive strikes. It didn’t work, as she’d been honing herself in that area. She swept his legs and put the wooden sword to his throat.

“I think that’s really sound advice, Adam. Thanks...where’d you learn that?”

“Oh, I would’ve been a crisis management kinda guy if the order...still...existed.” She picked him up. 

“It does. And you’re in it.” She smiled. 

“Thanks, dude. It really means a lot to hear stuff like that...I miss it a lot.” He said. “I know it has to happen, that’s fate, but...it still hurts.” 

“Hey, Adam, bud,” She patted his shoulder. “Things hurt sometimes. The past especially. But the best thing we can do is learn from it. Change ourselves to make it better.”

“Okay, so where’d  _ you  _ learn  _ that _ ? Because that’s pretty killer advice, Adora.”

“Well, if you’re friends with Bow long enough, it rubs off on you.” She winked. “I’m gonna go find Catra.”

“You do that…” Adam saw Roke approaching. “...you do that.”

* * *

Catra had been sitting in that room for a while now, talking only to Scorpia and whoever would listen. Then, the doors opened. “You’re in for it now,  _ cat.  _ One of our council members wants a  _ word  _ with you.” A guard spat the words. 

“Whatever.” Catra spoke. She heard the click of boots on the floor. “What, are you gonna tickle me with a feather or something? Horde’s been gone for ages, all those officers got executed by thugs in the crimson wastes, so just shut up and leave me alo-”

“Catra?”

“...” She heard the voice. She looked up. 

“Adora?” She was shocked. “What...what are you doing here? What do you want?”

“Forgiveness.”

“Forgiveness? What are you talking abo-”

Adora hugged her as tightly as she could. She squeezed her...and Catra squeezed her back, holding her like a toddler holds a teddy bear in a thunderstorm.

“I’m sorry about everything I did.” Adora said. “About abandoning you in the first place, trying to kill you, what happened with...the end there.” She shook her head. 

“I should have gone with you, Adora, I-”

“NO. I should have taken you with me.” 

“Adora, not everything that happened is your fault.” She said. “I did some bad stuff too. Trying to kill your friends, Double Trouble getting between you and Glimmer, that time I stole all your shirts in the horde.”

“That was YOU!?”

“Hey, easy. We’re forgiving each other right now, remember?”

Adora smiled a little. “I’m sorry I did all those things.”

“I’m sorry I did all of those things, too.” Catra sat up. “We hurt each other a lot, Adora.”

“I won’t be able to forgive a lot of that stuff. I won’t be able to forget any of it. But...I know that you can change. I need you to know that you can change for the better.”

“I’m trying to.” Catra said, hopefully. “I’m trying so hard to change. I feel like it’s working.” 

“Has to be, you didn’t try to cut me to bits when I came in.” Adora moved a bit of hair from Catra’s face. “I’m trying to change too. And I think we’re both gonna be okay.” 

“I think so too.” Catra purred. “...are we still-”

“Glimmer and I are gonna get married soon.” 

“...right.” Catra had known the answer, but had secretly held out hope for a while. 

“But I never wanna stop being your friend.” Adora looked her in the eyes, her big blues peering into Catra’s soul, straight to her heart. “I never wanna stop caring about you, and your safety.” Adora gripped her hands. “I promise you. I just want you to be happy. That’s all I want.”

“I believe you.” Catra said. “Don’t have to get all sappy with me.” She chuckled. “But...it’s nice to see you again.”

“...geez, 5 years ago if you’d asked me where I was.” Adora laughed. “I always figured we’d still be hanging out, and...well, here we are!”

“There could be way better circumstances, you have to admit it.”

“Yeah, yeah...weird how we ended up where we did.”

“That was fate, I guess.”

“Yeah.” Adora smiled. “Fate.”

Adora kissed Catra’s forehead. “I’m getting you out of this prison as soon as I can."

“Really?” She said. She hesitated for a moment, and kissed Adora’s cheek, sighing and purring, nestling into her. “I’m glad we’re on good terms.”

“I am, too.”

* * *

“My Lord,” Kothor spoke, looking over a mass of clones, “The Whispering Woods have been breached, and the Kingdom of Snows has almost fallen. It will only be a matter of time.”

“Excellent, my fine friend!” Skeletor stepped down from his throne. “You have accomplished in meer months what took that foolish horde  _ years. _ What of Plumeria?”

“My lord,” Kothor smirked, “We shall take it in a matter of days. The queen has abdicated.”

“Wonderful! Any artifacts from your order?”

This question jarred Kothor. His triumphant smirk turned to a look of sheer terror. He blinked a few times as he tried to process it. 

He’d killed his teachers. All of them. 

The grand Abbot, too. He’d killed him. 

He had one artifact with him. It was a small page from a text, an old prayer to Graenoth, written by his friend, Roke. Roke had taught him to write, and read, despite his older age. Kothor shivered gently as he thought about it, thought about Roke’s humor and his ability...he would have to fight Roke. 

He would have to  _ Kill Roke.  _

“Kothor?” Skeletor asked. 

“...none. It seems Roke got to them before I could.” 

“Oh, a shame.” Skeletor looked at a bit of driftwood, and a bit of sail. “You see these, Kothor?”

“My lord?”

“From the Turon, the flagship of the Salinean fleet. Had we not retreated from there, we would have taken them. Slaughtered them all, and used it to grow our own navy.” 

He put the artifacts into a small bowl, along with some powder. The skeleton breathed on it, then began to mix it, feeding it too a blue colored clone. “Go. Teach them what to make of these objects. Sail, boy. Sail!”

The clone leapt away, rushing to its colleagues. 

“One artifact...one at all, tainted with the knowledge of the Graethites. It could be the most useful thing we have. What of that spy, Double Trouble?”

“I’ve received word they were killed by Hussars in Plumeria. I also have reason to believe they were a sort of double agent.”

“Double Agent!” Skeletor slammed his throne with his bony fist. “Damn and Blast! No wonder the assault on Salineas was such a wash!” 

“My lord, we are almost poised to invade Bright Moon.” He said. “The siege equipment has made its way through Plumeria, and the Whispering Woods! One defeat is not the end of our campaign!” 

“...Perhaps you’re correct, Kothor.” Skeletor stepped down again, shakily walking to the edge of the balcony, overlooking his armies. 

“Yes...we will march on Brightmoon!” He laughed maniacally. “Go, Kothor! Ready yourself for battle!”

* * *

The day broke, and Kothor’s young eyes shot open at the sound of a scream. His mother rushed into the room. 

“The Horde!” She gripped him tightly, and took him away. 

“Where’s papa?” Kothor asked, groggily, still not fully awake. 

“He’s...he hasn’t made it.” His mother shook her head. “Kothor...you have to run.”

“But the alliance will save us, mama! You always said they wou-”

“The alliance is  _ gone,  _ Kothor.” She kissed his cheek and placed him down. “You need to Run, child. Some day, we’ll be together again.” She smiled. “I promise...I must go back for your sist-”

Her face went blank. She lurched over, falling in front of him. 

A soldier stood there, with a rifle. He aimed at Kothor, and...a click. “Damn, it’s jammed!” Kothor ran as fast as he could. Where had the alliance gone? Why did they leave? The kingdoms his parents paid tribute and tax to, the ones who had promised they would be safe, who had made an oath to them...had gone. 

Sore feet brought him to a small, open forge, with a canopy, seemingly hidden in trees. A woman stood from an anvil, placing a bar back into the fire. 

“Well, you’re awfully young looking.” She patted his head; red hair and deep green eyes greeted him as he looked up. “What’s happened to you, you teary eyed child?”

“My...m-mama got killed.” 

“Horde?”

A meek nod. “Oh, you poor thing...I think you’ll be safe here.” She picked him up. “Let’s go see my friend Lorkus.” She smiled. “He’ll get you a nice warm bed, and food, and water...you’ll grow up to be a fine young lad.” She said. “What’s your name?”

“Kothor.”

“Liara. Let’s get you inside.” 

* * *

Kothor stared at the prayer from Roke, and sighed, his eyes becoming blurry from filled up tear ducts. He shivered as he thought of it...He didn’t kill Liara. He couldn’t take it upon himself to do so. But he’d seen her body, shoved into a cart with the others. Those same eyes that looked into his...was this all worth it? To get back at a dead queen and other dead or retired monarchs, who may have never even heard of his town, let alone sent troops?

No. Of course not. 

This was all he could do to get back. Seeking vengeance from ghosts. 

Fate had brought him here, and it would bring him to Bright Moon. 


	10. The Gray Sea Approaches

The Kingdom of Snows had fallen.

It was ruled by a child queen, possibly the least qualified to fight a war against an enemy like the Gray Sea. She, and many of her subjects, had been forced to take refuge in Bright Moon. 

The remaining kingdoms, Salineas, Mystacor, Bright Moon, and Dryl, all gathered around the small tactics table. At it sat Queen Glimmer, Adora, Bow, Mermista, Entrapta, Castaspella, Roke, and Adam. 

“The Kingdom of Snows is no more. At least, not until we take it back from the Gray Sea. Plumeria’s in the same boat. We have enough food and water to last a while, and our walls are strong.” Glimmer sighed heavily. “We cannot last more than 2 months, however.”

“Maybe we have the cavalry stay back,” Adora said, “Hide in the whispering woods, and when the siege comes, send a message to form an assault on the back of the line?”

“Would they guard the back of their line?” 

“I could make sure they don’t.” A voice came from a guard. The guard shifted into Double Trouble. 

“I could easily pose as a spy, telling them false plans about mounting an offensive on their headquarters in what used to be Plumeria?” 

“It’s  _ Still Plumeria. _ We just need to get it back.” Glimmer spoke through clenched teeth. 

“I think that could be helpful.” Bow smiled and nodded. “It at least gives us a chance to not be playing defense. It gives us agency.” 

“My battle bots are coming along well, and the production is going smoothly!” Entrapta smiled gently. “We should be able to fend them off for at least a while. They run off of a few energy sources, but since they’re all easily obtainable and renewable, we can do something. I have about 600 ready to go.”

“Can we used them as rampart gunners?”

“Of course!”

“Good. That at least culls them...but those numbers.” Glimmer shook her head. “They’re going to get in, like it or not.”

“I brought, like, a few galleons up through the channel and to the mouth of the Zoln, which, last I checked, is inside your siege walls?” 

“It is.” Glimmer nodded. “We place the harbor in there after the war. Made it...safer.” 

“Yeah, so, like, those are 32 guns to a side, and there’s 3 of them. I think that’s 96. So It’ll do something useful I figure.”

“That’s...incredible!” Glimmer smiled. “That increases our artillery by a good amount! How about the grunt work stuff? Adora? Roke? Adam?”

“We’ll be ready.” Adam said, excitedly. “I’ve trained my whole life to be the ultimate fighter, and a couple of big numbers on a sheet won’t scare me!” 

“Good. Roke?”

Roke sighed. “Big numbers aren’t the only scary ones…” He scratched his head. “I, uhm...I’ve only managed to get a few dozen recruits, and some of them are in metal working positions. All in all there’s only 30 fighting Graethites, I’m afraid.” 

“Roke, if anyone can operate with small numbers, it’s you and the Graethites.” Adora smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “We have a few guards and other personnel who can aid us, and some of the refugees are also soldiers.”

“If you say so.” Roke nodded. “But I’ll be in the fight. No back row stuff for me.”

“Or me.” Adora said. 

“Or,” Castaspella stood, “Me.” 

“...Aunt Casta?”   


“Mystacor has sat by too long. Even with the loaned sorcerers, I feel I can at least throw myself into the fire. It won’t be the first war I’ve fought.”

“Aunt Casta, I-” Glimmer was at a loss for words. She hugged her. “Thank you.” She smiled up at her. “I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”

“I know you will.”

“My generals will account for the strategy, and move the armies. They know more about siege craft than I do.” Glimmer stood. “Alright...we have our departments.” Glimmer slammed her staff butt on the ground, and turned off the table. “They will march on us, and we shall not falter. We will be victorious!” 

A cheer. 

And then, work. 

* * *

Adora and Adam huffed and held bruised sides after another round of training. 

“How’d talking with Catra go, dude?” 

“It went...well.” Adora said. “We’re on okay terms. She wants to fight with us to save Bright Moon.”

“Sick! She was trying to take it over a while ago!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” They heard footsteps down the path. It was Roke. 

“Adora, Adam! Good, I found you.” He presented them with sheets of paper. “These contain the incantations to summon Pastrea and Graenoth.” 

“What do they say?” Adam began to read his aloud. “Aila-”

“Don’t read them, STOP!” Roke said. “If you read them aloud now, you will summon Graenoth before it’s time! You only get  _ one  _ task from him!”

“Oh, yikes...thanks for the warning.” 

“Sure.” Roke looked at the training room. “How goes it?”

“Good.” Adora said. “You get over killing that guy yet?”

“Pardon?”

“I heard you crying again last night.” Adora crossed her arms. “I’m all for expressing emotions, but you seem a little...over dramatic?”

“Kothor.” 

“What about him?” Adam asked. “Is he...oh, no, he couldn’t be.” He shook his head. “He’s  _ not  _ with this skeletor guy.”

“He is.” Roke looked down. “I...I saw him.” He started to choke up, a lump forming in the back of his throat. “I saw him with my own eyes. The same ones that looked at him as a friend.” He sat on a bench in the field, rubbing his eyes. “I taught him everything he knows about the Graethites.” He said. “I was a historian and scribe. He was always so curious. I taught him to read, write, draw up plans for the blacksmiths, everything.” Roke smiled a little. 

“Hey, fighting your own friend can be real...tough. I didn’t realize you two were so close.” Adora said. She knew from a previous conversation that they were close, but he taught Kothor  _ everything.  _ Reading, writing, history. And now he had to kill him. 

“Maybe I should be a little less worried about your constitution then, huh?”

“Hmm?” Roke looked up at Adora. 

Adora nodded at him. “If you didn’t give up after seeing your best friend turn on you?” She patted his back. “You’re pretty strong.” 

“I mean,  _ yeah  _ he’s strong, he can beat me!” Adam said. “I never doubted you for a moment, big guy.” He nudged Roke. 

Roke laughed. “Well...I can beat  _ Adam,  _ I dunno about He-Man. Or She-Ra.” 

“Yeah, they’d probably crush you pretty bad.”

“Definitely. No denying that.” Roke laughed a little. “You know, I’ve been doubting myself this whole time?”

“Yeah?” Adora asked, getting her gambeson undone, revealing the tunic underneath. 

“I’m not sure I was cut out to be a leader. I rekindled the flame of the order, but that’s not really leadership, is it?”

“Well, it’s recruiting, that’s pretty tough.” Adam said.

“Sure, sure. I worry though. I’m the same age as you two!”

“Glimmer’s my age and she runs a kingdom.” Adora said. 

Roke stood and looked around the field. “She does. She runs a very good one. One I intend to protect with everything I have.” He started to walk away. “Memorize those incantations, but don’t read them!”

“Gotcha, boss!”

“WIll do!”

“Thanks.” He said. “And thanks again for the pep talk. I feel like I needed that.” 

Adora held a thumb up. “Any time, Abbot Roke.” 

Roke chuckled a bit. “Abbot Roke…” He said, under his breath, “Sounds silly.”

* * *

“The Kingdom of Snows fell the other day.” Scorpia looked at Catra.

“So did Plumeria. They burned everything to the ground, it was insane! You could see the orange light from the fires and the smoke!”

“Uh-huh.” Catra stood up. “Sounds...rough.” She looked down. “I can’t wait to do my part by  _ sitting in a room with chains on my feet.”  _ Catra slumped over, and looked at the ceiling. “How’re those negotiations going?”

“Well, uhm, funny story about those, the council hasn’t really-”

“PRISONER!” A guard shouted. “THE VISITOR MUST LEAVE.” 

“Hey, I’m allowed down here, the protocol cha-”

“THIS prisoner is expecting the QUEEN. In times of war, we cannot have any potential security breaches!” 

“Oh, fine, fine, I’m leaving, see? Look!” Scorpia waved. “See how far out the door I am?” She called form the end of the hallway. Glimmer walked in. 

“Catra.”

“Glimmer.” 

“Catra, I’ve decided your fate.” She said. “You worked for the Horde as a force captain, and aided in many strikes on Etheria. You aided a spy in their espionage efforts, you tried to destroy the entire planet.” She sighed. 

“You saved my life. You helped us when we needed you most. You gave everything short of your life for Etheria.” 

“I’m a mixed bag, my queen.” Catra snarled. “This is a fancy way of telling me I’m gonna get shot at dawn, so just get this over with okay?”

“I’m placing you in command of the battle bots and rampart forces.” 

“See, there we-huh?” 

“We have a shortage of officers.” Glimmer said. “You were good at your job. You’ve worked with Entrapta’s tech before, and you’re crafty with tactics.” She grabbed a key and undid Catra’s chains. 

“After that, am I...free?” Catra looked shocked. Her eyes were wide, and welling up. 

“With Military Pension, yes.” Glimmer smiled. “It took me a while to think about all this, but...well, I figured you saved us all in a way.” Glimmer hugged Catra, and kissed her cheek. “Welcome, Major Catra.”

“...Major.” Catra sniffled, and her breath hitched. “I like that.” She started bawling, her tears staining Glimmer’s sleeve, as Glimmer held her tight, and heaved a relieved, happy sigh. 

“Catra, I can’t guarantee you’ll live.” Glimmer said. “But I can guarantee you’ll be regarded as a hero.” 

“I don’t  _ need  _ to be a hero, I just...I need a purpose. And if this is it, then this is it.” She said. “I need people who care about me, and at least  _ someone  _ here does.” She looked down. “I’m glad you’ve given me this.” 

“I’m glad, too, Catra.” Glimmer walked to the door. “I’ve had a uniform made for you. I think you’ll look good in the lavender.”

“Lavender?” She shook her head. “No, no. I’m getting a cool shade of something. Like...matte black, or steel gray, or cobalt, or...something.” 

“Majors get Lavender.” 

“What do captains get?”

“Lavender.”

“Everyone gets lavender, huh?” 

Glimmer nodded. “Except for field marshals, though! They get Lilac.” 

Catra rolled her eyes. “I’m beginning to rethink this commission, Glimmer.”

“ _ Queen  _ Glimmer.” 

“Whatever, Sparkles.” 

Glimmer chuckled, but anyone could see the pain, stress, and horror in her eyes. She wasn’t ready for this. No one was. Her army consisted of 7 or 8 legions, refugees, sword cultists, robots, and faith. She was going to just let Catra go. But she was desperate for officers. Catra’s freedom was inevitable, but her work in the military? 

Necessary. 

* * *

The day dragged on, as massive mounting, training, and hauling efforts made it. The last of the heavy cavalry had hauled in food, and set to go back to their hideouts in the Whispering Woods and Plumeria. Mermista’s sailors and fleet had dragged two ships of the line, 32 gun behemoths King Dolphor and Orcasa into position, aimed straight at the gates of the towers. If they breached, they would be pummeled by chain shot, which would dig in and do, hopefully, less damage to the thick, stone walls that separated the castle from the rest of the world. 

Glimmer sighed as she looked out at the setting sun. She felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“Adora.” She turned around and held Adora by her waist. “I finally found a moment to rest…” 

“It’s hard to find those, huh?” 

“I’m just nervous.”

“We all are.” Adora kissed Glimmer, gently, at first, before Glimmer pressed into it, passionately holding Adora in, her hand on the back of her head, almost sneaking in her tongue, before Adora pulled away. 

“I think the people would...like a speech.”

“Adora, I just...I haven’t got anything ready.” 

“Tomorrow morning then?”

“Tomorrow.”

Bow walked into the room. “Glimmer! I have...news.”

“News?”

“We can see them...the scouting parties, I mean. They won’t attack at night. Too dangerous.”

“Bow.” Glimmer looked up at him. “I NEED you to get to Plumeria.”

“Plumeria!?”

“It’s where the Cavalry is. I can reach your communicator from there and I need you there to signal the attack.”

“Got it. I’ll ride out after dinner. I think I can make it...we have a pretty safe passage through the woods.”

“Good...good luck.” She hugged him. 

“Good luck to you too.”

When Bow left the room, Adora pulled Glimmer back into a kiss. She hadn’t had a chance to do this in...well, frankly, a while. She pulled away once more. 

“If I die tomorrow…” Adora pressed her forehead to Glimmer’s. “If I die tomorrow I want to be buried somewhere where you can be put next to me.” 

“We have a garden for that sort of thing.” Glimmer said. “You’ll be at the center...but you won’t die.”

“Glimmer, it’s really possible that I cou-”

“No it’s  _ not. _ ” She huffed. 

“Glimmer…” Adora kissed her one more time, before sitting on the bed. “Tonight might be our last night together.” 

“S-shut up!” Glimmer shouted. “No it Won’t!” She hugged her. “We’ll...be fine.”

“I would die for you.” Adora held Glimmer’s hands. 

“Stop TALKING like that!” She seethed. “You WON’T die for me. If anyone’s dying, it’s-” She stopped herself. She sighed. “I’ve...I’ve held the ship through this before.”

“And you’ll hold it through here.” Adora said. “Rest, Glimmer. We both need to.”

“...Bright moon shall not fall.” Glimmer said, laying her head on the pillow. “Not as long as you’re here.”

The night fell, and the soldiers of the opposing armies slept through the night, soundly. Some dreamt their last dreams, some kissed their lovers goodnight for the last time, some prayed their last prayers. Some would live to remember it. Some not. Such is war. 

Whether or not everyone would live, however, was a moot point. For the story would live forever. 

The morning broke. And oh, what a day it would bring.


	11. Bright Moon Shall Not Fall!

The sun rose over snow-covered woods and a steaming harbor. Birds sang, and a few deer ranged through the courtyard, running about in search of food. A strong breeze blew, helping the top coat of snow to dance, catching the light and forming small whirlwinds, like walls of fire as they waltzed about the landscape. The land inside of the walls of Brightmoon was gripped with winter, and yet, any anguish seemed so far away. 

Had it not been for the sound of men filing onto ships to man guns, or manning the ramparts with bows and arrows, javelins, rocks, anything that could be thrown, had it not been for the eerie sound of the wheels of siege towers and battering rams and catapults on the horizon, had it not been for the sight of countless troops, braving the cold, then one wouldn’t notice any war at all. 

But it was here. 

It was here, in sailors from Salineas wrapped up as warm as they could be, wearing whaling gear and anything they could get their hands on. It was here, in trembling men looking down at the earth below, either too shattered by the war before or too frightened of the war ahead to think straight. It was here, in the eyes of sorcerers from Mystacor who had never tested their offensive spells, who knew little of sieges or warfare. 

It was here.

“Graenoth shall guide us to our fates, be them to victory or defeat, no one can be certain.” Roke blessed his followers, including Adora and Adam. 

“There will be rest, the rest of peace or the rest of the afterlife in Ogel, forging swords that shall arm future generations. You have all trained hard and well. Fate has brought us here...and we shall answer its call.”

Adam and Adora walked to the gates, wearing elaborate armor. While Adam was taking on the role of a foot soldier, Adora would be a sort of front line captain, guiding troops and calling orders. 

“So, like...this is pretty grim, isn’t it?”

“Adam?”

“It’s not lookin’ good. You know how Sieges can go, right?”

“These guys aren’t looking to starve us out.” She said. “They didn’t try that in the Kingdom of Snows and they know we have more food than they could get through their supply lines.” 

“So you think they’re gonna bum rush us?”

“Definitely.”

“Okay, so, like...what does that even entail?”

“Well, they think we haven’t got defenses and that we’ve diverted all our energy to keeping food well stocked. So I’m guessing they’re just gonna...rush.”

“We’ll be ready.”

* * *

Further down the ramparts, Catra stood, bundled up in extra layers and a freshly made Bright Moon Major’s uniform, wearing an elaborate helmet with a plume of purple and blue feathers, plucked from a Blue Swan, the symbol of Bright Moon. She looked around her. 

“How many of you are armed?”

“All of us, Major.” 

“Armed with  _ Weapons. _ ” 

“Most of us, Captain.” One said. “A majority of us haven’t got many ranged arms, but we have been making spears up to the early hours of the morning to throw. Javelins too.” 

The Javelins were strong, oak shafted things, and you could clearly tell which had been crafted quickly by the quality of the lathing; some bore smooth shafts, with fine metal tips, while some bore crude cast iron points with quickly whittled shafts. Frankly, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they worked. 

“And when they breach the gates? What then, Major?” 

“The ones in the rear of the ramparts will take over at the front and pick off infiltrators. The rest will go back to attack any that get in.” 

“And then what?”

Catra sighed. “ _ Then  _ you keep going until they stop coming in.”

“What if they don’t stop?” One asked. 

“Then you STAY HERE AND KEEP THROWING WHATEVER YOU HAVE.” Catra was visibly annoyed. “We’re defending the kingdom, for crying out loud! Not throwing a surprise birthday party!” She looked out. “You can see them, can’t you?”

“...it’s frightening.” One man said. 

“So’s war. You’ll get the hang of it.” Catra stood on a rampart and looked at her section. “LISTEN UP! Today could be the greatest day of Bright Moon’s history! It could be the most important day of any of your lives! Songs will be sung of you and glory will be with you until the end of your days!” The men cheered. 

“OR it could be the last day of Bright Moon’s history.” She said. “It depends on YOU. Not the sailors, not the sorcerers, not the graethites or the queen. You’re our first line of defense. WE are the ones who will make the day or lose it! Give it EVERYTHING!”

As the men cheered, They heard a horn call, the soft, noble sound of the hunter’s horn. It called to the ramparts of a tower on the castle, where, with the aid of an amplification spell, Glimmer spoke. 

“Bright Moon.” A solemn, tense voice from the queen. “Today, we’re in peril. We face a threat greater than any we’ve seen before.” She said. The entire army was facing her. She felt them. She heaved in a breath. “But...we should be hopeful. Hopeful that the amassed armies of Salineas, Bright Moon, Dryl, and Mystacor are with us. Hopeful that the power of the She Ra, the He Man, the graethites, sorcerers, and several battle hardened, experience generals are on our side. We will suffer. There’s no question.” Her voice swelled with determination. “But we shall prevail. We shall defeat them! Some will give everything, even their lives, for this. And they will  _ not  _ die in vain! BRIGHT MOON SHALL NOT FALL!” 

The armies cheered. Glimmer remained in her throne room, watching every move from the strategy table. 

“How long until they breach the walls?”

“We give the defenses a bit of time before the rams get in.” 

“Say they breach the walls. How long until they get to the castle?”

“Well, I’d say...an hour and some change of advance. But most of our defenses are focused on the main wall. If they do make it through, there won’t be too many.” 

“Alright.” She stood. “Roke is with the Graethites at the palace gate?” 

“He’s in place, my queen.” 

“Bow is ready with the Cavalry for the surprise attack?”

“Ready as he’ll ever be.” 

“Mermista, are the ships ready?” 

“Like...they told me, and they’re preeeetty reliable, so...yeah.” 

“Good. Entrapta, how’re the robots?”

“Ready and operating! I can control them from here, but I have a few operators on the ramparts to make sure they shoot at only the gray ones.” 

“Thanks.” She stood. “Now...we wait.” 

* * *

“MEN OF THE GRAY SEA!” Skeletor stood on a massive obelisk, hauled by gray men and slaves. “TODAY WE CONQUER BRIGHT MOON, AND THUS, THE WORLD IS OURS!” The gray sea cheered and shouted. It didn’t take much to motivate them. “Our plan is simple. Crash the gates, and kill them ALL! NOW MARCH! MARCH ON BRIGHT MOON!” 

Kothor lead a small group of highly trained dueling Gray Men, who had absorbed knowledge from the Graethites who were slain in the sword rock ordeal. He rode in a marrive cart with them. Skeletor stepped into it from his obelisk. 

“Are you ready to do your work, Kothor?”

“Always, my lord.”

“Good. You will have to kill that Roke boy.” 

“...consider it don-”

“I won’t consider it done until his head is in front of me!” 

“Yes my lord.” He stood. “We stand ready to take the castle. That shall be our job.” 

They heard something hit the ground. “We must be within striking distance.” 

“Keep marching! KEEP MARCHING!”

* * *

“THROW NOW!” Catra yelled, throwing spears, javelins, and commanding archers. “HIT AS MANY AS YOU CAN!” They did take quite a few, the broad, organized lines of gray men heading for them making easy targets. The Gray Men on one side ended up holding shields above their heads for the advance. But at least 2 columns were completely decimated before they had a chance of reaching the gates, including the battering rams. 

Some rams, though, did get through. The battle bots made short work of the men using them, but damage was made to the white oak doors of the new gates. “Don’t let them through! Don’t let them through! Aim for the ones with the rams!” Catra called. She snarled and looked out. 

“We’re out of good javelins!” 

“ _ Then use the bad ones! _ ”

“Yes, Major!” They started to throw. Not as effective, but they did the job. 

Meanwhile, in the castle, Glimmer looked out from the top spire, spotting the land outside the new gates. “The cavalry should advance on their rear line.” She said. “They’re vulnerable back there.” 

“Yes, queen.” 

A sudden horn call from the ramparts alarmed Kothor. He peered at the ramparts. “What are they calling for? Surrender? Not already.” 

“Possibly.” Skeletor snickered. “Ha! We’ve won and they haven’t even let us...through...what’s that noise?” 

“... _ HOOVES. _ ” 

At that moment, 6 score horsemen, armed with spears, bows, swords, lances, and all manner of weapons, rushed the middle section of the formation. It took the Gray Sea a good 10 or so minutes to build any sort of response. And it wasn’t an effective one at all. No squares of lances or circles of blades. The instead formed rigid lines, and short work was made of them by the cuirassiers and their lances, getting just in range to strike with the long shafts and sharp points, before rearing the horse back and rushing back for another offensive. The light cavalry, too, the hussars, caused quite a few problems for the siege towers, throwing small bombs at their wheels with short fuses; some caught fire, and one tipped over. 

The siege was weakened significantly, but the cry of struck horses and falling cavalrymen was too hard to ignore. Spurra ordered a retreat after a good half hour of striking. “Regroup! Fall back, we’ve done our part!” The horses swept away, several less than they started with. 

Another blow to Bright Moon’s defense came in a siege tower reaching the ramparts. The men drew swords and messers, anything they had to defend themselves. Gray men got there though, and made quick work of some of the soldiers. It was almost a farce to try and fight them, until the battle bots got a bit more focused by an operator. The gray men fled back to the siege tower to try and regroup, but while in it, Catra managed to get in. 

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t ask whether or not you all were decent.” She slashed one, taking an axe from it, and butchered another. She kicked the gray oozing remains to another one, and used the axe to take one’s arm clean off, shoving it out of the tower. She buried the axe in the last one on that level. She heard more marching up the makeshift stairs of the tower. She braced herself, and drew her claws. “So this is it, huh?” She huffed. “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” She snarled as she saw one slowly crest the stairs. 

* * *

The door was shaking. Adora looked at her column of men. “We stay at THIS POINT. They can’t get ranged weapons inside. We don’t want to fall under the fire from the Salinean ships!” She shouted over the loud din outside the walls. “They will get past this point, but our shield wall will hold them for a brief time. We need to stand ready for them!”

A cheer, as they formed a shield wall, putting their shields above their heads, lest an archer or two sneak in. 

The walls opened, and a captain of one of the Salinean ships looked out. 

“That’s our cue! Hoist the cannon signal!” 

“Aye, captain!” A sailor scurried quickly up the rigging and blew a horn half way up. 

“Signal! Tell the men!” 

Only a few seconds passed before the loaded, ready cannons shot of their first rounds. The balls skidded across the snow, slamming into the doors, as men rushed in. It was a complete disaster for the first wave of infiltrators. 

“Sir!” A gray man spoke to Kothor. “They have ships in their inner harbor! They’ve got guns squared at the doors!” 

“Find a good trajectory and use our trebuchets. Show them what a real army looks like.” 

A signal to the trebuchet operators. A trajectory. The shot was loaded, and the rope was ready to be released...and then the rope man went down, an arrow in his neck. 

“Got one!” Bow rode in, flying on swift wind, picking off the trebuchet crews. He laughed and sent a few bomb arrows as well. “Easy pickings out here, Glimmer, but I haven’t got all the arrows in the world!” He said over his communicator. 

“Good work, Bow! Shoot until you can’t.”

“Bad news, they...still have an operational crew for a trebuchet!” 

“Do they have the ships in sight!?”

“Just one! I’ll come back for more arrows and see if I can take care of it!”

By the time Bow crossed into the walls, however, it was just too late. The trebuchet launched, and left quite a big hole running down one of the ships. “They’ve got us trained!” A captain said. “We did what we could...abandon the ships! It’d be too slow to try and move ‘em! Help on land!” The sailors all rushed off, carrying bodies, or parts of bodies, to land. 

When the cannon fire stopped, Adora knew it was time. 

“ADVANCE!” She quickly turned to She-Ra, and walked with the soldiers. Adam transitioned to He-Man, and walked alongside her. “Just some clones, right?” 

“Easy street. Look, they aren’t even organized.” She scoffed. “Piece of cake.” 

It was pretty easy. Adora knew her mission wasn’t the gray men, it was Skeletor. She cut through lines of them, swiftly and surely, taking very little in the way of damage. Adam tangled with a few, cleaving one of them almost in half. He felt a sharp pain. “Ah!” He’d been stabbed near his leg. He made short work of that one, too. He looked behind him, and most of his column was either wounded or dead. “I have to keep going…” he quickly tied something around the wound, and got back to his grizzly work. He soldiered through the pain and kept at it, stabbing, cutting, ripping limb from limb with brute strength...he did what he had to do. 

And they made headway. 

* * *

A cart got past the confusion. It was a cart with Kothor and his swordsmen. He rolled it up to the gate, then rolled out with the men. He walked towards the bridge to the entrance of the castle. 

“Roke,” A Graethite student looked, “there’s a group of them, at least 15.” 

“There’s 10 of us, and only one human there.” He said. “We wait for them to strike. 

“They’re just...walking.” 

“And we’re just waiting.” 

“We need to strike!” 

Roke shook his head. He shouted. “HALT, OR FACE DEATH!”   


“Roke…” Kothor stopped his slow advance. “It’s not polite to shout...you should know that.” 

“You won’t get through here Kothor.” 

“You haven’t got the guts to kill me.” Kothor sneered, but Roke stood strong.

“You haven’t got the guts to kill  _ me  _ either.” 

“...I don’t need to do the killing.” He pointed, and the gray men reached out in fury. 

* * *

Catra climbed back to the top of the siege tower, huffing, panting, covered in scratches and deep cuts. She was losing blood fast. She looked around, and a sorcerer quickly came over. “I can heal you!” He quickly scooped her up and wrapped bandages around her. “Drink this.” He gave her a canteen. “It’ll restore your blood.” 

“Gray...man.” 

“What?” He looked behind himself, and saw a large gray man towering over him, ready to drop an axe into his back. His eyes went wide and he shook...and suddenly, the gray man disappeared. Or, rather, the axe did. 

“You shouldn’t play with these if you don’t know how to use ‘em.” A familiar voice. A sudden sting. The gray man fell, and in its place stood Scorpia. 

“...Scorpia?”   


“Hey, wildcat.” She blushed and kissed Catra’s cheek as she shakily stood. 

“Thanks for bailing us out there.” 

“No problem...hey, can we talk after this?” She stung another gray man. 

“I mean, about what?” 

“Uhm…” She snipped one with her claws, and shoved him over the side. 

“Are you seriously trying to talk matters of the heart RIGHT NOW!?” Catra seemed annoyed. 

“Sorry, I...just wanted to kno-” 

“Scorpia, I’m not mad, but I’m a little preoccupied! Can we talk about this later?” 

“Sure.” She said. 

“Good. I’ll see you then…” in a quieter moment, Catra got on her tiptoes and kissed Scorpia’s cheek, and ran off. Scorpia giggled. 

“She likes me, I can tell~” 

“Aren’t we kind of busy!?” The healer asked. 

“Oh? Oh, yeah! Yeah, uhm...yeah. Lemme get back to that.”

* * *

Skeletor looked over the battle. 3 hours had been spent. Three grueling hours, surviving a cavalry charge, a massive bombardment, and skilled food soldiers. The other armies he’d fought were makeshift bands of ill equipped farmers. These were true warriors, and his force was feeling the pressure. He peered at the gates. 

“Is that...the She Ra? And...the He Man!” He laughed. “They’ve a long way to go to get to me!” 

That is, they would have, had the battle bots not been recharged. He seethed. “rrrrrrrrrr….get those robots destroyed! I want them  _ scrapped! _ Go on, get to it!” 

A team of gray men got into a surviving siege tower and climbed the stairs, fighting their way past guards. They managed, somehow, to get to them, and destroyed a few, before the bots self destructed, killing the gray men, and sending chunks of rampart and steaming metal down on the gray men. It backfired, to be blunt. And Adora and the He Man were close.

* * *

At the palace, 3 graethites had been killed, but now only a few of Kothor’s forces stood. The gray swordsmen ran off. “They’re headed to the strategy room. Go, make chase!” Roke cried. 

And Roke stood alone with Kothor. 

“...So.” Kothor sighed. “It’s a duel, then.” 

“It appears to be.” Roke struck, swinging high, forcing a parry and lunging with his buckler. Kothor drove his dagger hard into the buckler and grunted. “Nngh...damn.” He shoved Roke away. “Somehow I knew you’d go for that, Roke.” 

“How’s this then?” Roke faked a low jab and smacked Kothor’s shoulder with his buckler, getting behind him. Kothor turned quickly and parried with his rapier. 

“Good...good.” Kothor went for a long stab, but hit the buckler as it swept up to meet the tip of his rapier, sweeping it away, leaving him open for a few moments. Roke took advantage and got a good cut on his shirt, leaving it open and revealing the thick tunic underneath. He huffed. “Not much in the way of armor.” 

“Unlike you. Is that a gambeson and a cuirass?” Kothor swept and got a good cut on the gambeson. “You’re practically begging for me to have to strike your groin.” 

“It’s comfortable.” Roke teared up and laughed. “Look at us...like the friends we used to be.” 

“...” Kothor struck again, tears streaming down his face. “Roke…” 

Kothor felt a sudden strike in his side. Roke had done it. “Y-you...you fell for a high fake and I swept for the left.” 

Kothor reeled on the ground in pain. He held his side. “Roke...you have to kill me.” 

“...what?” He shook his head. “No, I...we’ll heal you and you’ll be a graethite again, I-”

“ROKE.” He winced, and his breath hitched. He was breathing heavily. “If I tried I would be rejected. The sword must be just...I destroyed the order.” He said. 

“I sealed my fate.” 

“Kothor…” Roke shook his head, crying. “Kothor, anyone can be changed.” He heaved in air. “Anyone.” 

“Roke...I killed the entire order.” He winced. “I...nngh...I-I killed children. I killed mothers, pregnant women...I’m not...I’m not right for this.” He sighed. 

“Kothor, I can’t.” 

“Roke. You must.” he handed him his dagger. “Do...do it rightly.” 

Kothor felt a dagger pierce his throat. He gagged. He held Roke’s cheek in his hand. “...thank you.” 

His hand fell, and left a bloodied hand print on Roke’s cheek. Roke sobbed, holding Kothor close to him, his open weeps being heard through the castle. 

Glimmer had made short work of the remaining gray swordsmen. “Can you show me to Roke?” 

“Last we saw he was in the garden.” 

Glimmer walked there, and saw...something drastic. 

Fire. Fire in the distance on the ruined, sinking ship. The din of battle, and ruined walls. A wide open door. Dead Etherians and Gray Men on the ground. And Roke, clutching a body, covered in blood, and sobbing. 

“Roke…” She drew near to him. 

“Promise me he’ll be buried here.” He spoke through choked intense sobs. 

“Roke, he’s an enemy general, we can’t just-”

“Promise me!” He shivered with grief. 

“...it will be done.” She said. 

* * *

Skeletor turned on his obelisk. “It’s over.” He-man spoke. “Your army is in ruins and we have you cornered.” 

“He’s got a point.” She-Ra backed him up. 

“...we’ll see about that!” Skeletor used magic, trying to blow He-man away. His shield blocked it, and She-Ra kicked him over. She was about to run him through, when she felt a push. She was blown to the railing of the flat topped obelisk. She groaned. “nnngh...Adam!” He-Man was faring better, getting in a few blows. But as he cut, the skeleton just kept getting up again. “You cannot defeat me! Not unless I’m paralyzed! Haha!” 

He suddenly froze in place, but only for a moment. Glimmer had teleported nearby, and struck him with a spell from her staff. “Adora! Pray to Pastrea! QUICK!” She was struck by some magic, and fell to the floor of the Obelisk. She got up and swept out Skeletor’s legs with the staff. 

Adam knelt down, and as Adora and Glimmer distracted him, he called to one of the gods. He had memorized the writing on his scroll. He was ready for this.

“Graenoth...I am the he-man of the age.” He huffed. “In my time of need I pray for your assistance.” 

A voice spoke to him, and only him. 

“What is your prayer, child?” 

“Defeat the gray sea, and remove them from this plane of existence.” 

“It shall be done.” And with a sudden crack of lightning and thunder, the gray men all collapsed, and faded to dust. “This is your one wish, granted only in a time of desperate need. I am glad you did not abuse your wish.” 

“As am I. Thank you, Graenoth.” 

“Wield my sword truly.” 

“What...what’s this!? My army! MY GLORIOUS ARMY!” Skeletor cast a spell that cut He-Man deep, and he changed back to Adam. He tried to wrap his shirt around the bloody wound. He heaved in air. “Adora….Adora, you have to pull through.” 

“I’ll keep him distracted Adora!” Glimmer called, fighting Skeletor hard. 

“...Pastrea...I am the She-Ra of the age.” She huffed. “I’m...in my time of need, I request your assistance.” 

“Time of need indeed...I am glad you did not abuse this wish.” The voice spoke only to her. 

“Goddess of heroes and victory, destroy Skeletor, and hold his evil in Ogel, where it can never escape.” 

“It shall be done.” 

...nothing.

“You...you did it right, didn’t you!?” Glimmer suddenly fell. Skeletor laughed. “HA! Your puny gods are no match for me!” He stumbled and tripped over Glimmer’s staff, and...his foot fell off. “No matter, I’ll...i’ll…” He couldn’t get it back on. 

“...what have you done!?” 

“Defeated you.” Adora cut the skull off of Skeletor’s shoulders, and hacked at his bones. He didn’t get up. He was gone. 

The fight was over. 

And bright moon had not fallen. 


	12. There Will Be Rest

Silence. There was stillness and silence. The ship slowly settled low and the sailors managed to get out. The other ship rested. The battle bots turned off automatically, and the soldiers stood, unsure of what to do now. The fires burned. The wind blew snow across the ground. 

Silence. Catra managed her way down from the ramparts, and the soldiers made their way down as well. The cavalry came back from the woods, and the horses watered in the nearby stream. 

Silence. The Graethites all pooled themselves, collected the dead, and put them under blankets. The medical units, doctors, healers, all with hushed tones, collected the dead as well. Thousands in so few hours, vanquished. Gone. The queen was safe, and most of the generals, too. 

Silence. 

_ Silence.  _

Adora walked back through the gates.  _ Is this victory?  _ She asked herself, struggling to walk, her joints and arms aching, her leg starting to stiffen. She managed to get through what used to be the door. 

“...the She-Ra!”

“She’s hurt!”

“Get her to a tent!” The healers all scrambled to help her up.She looked around. This was not a joyous place. The sense in the air was relief, not joy. Thankfulness, not cheer. They were glad the war was over, and that they’d managed to live. 

It was eerily quiet as Glimmer walked through the tents. She scanned over the fields, and sighed. “It’s over,” She confided to herself, “We won.” 

“We’ve done a great thing today, Glimmer.” Bow rode in on Swift Wind, dropping down off the alicorn and hugged her tightly. He had tears in his eyes. 

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Bow said. 

“Me too. I’m glad you’re safe too.”

“Where’s Adora?” 

“I’m not sure.”

Adam walked through the gates as well, and was also rushed over to a tent. The battle was over, but rebuilding would be difficult, and Adam wanted to help in any way he could. He would recover quickly, at least, he thought. 

Roke walked up behind Glimmer, the click of his boots on the hard, cobblestone path getting her to turn around. 

“The Graethites have collected all our dead, I’ll have numbers for you later. Do I drop those to you or the healers?”

“I’d prefer them, it makes setting up the ceremony easier.”

“As you wish.” Roke saw conflict in Glimmer’s eyes. “You seem concerned, my Queen?”

“This...doesn’t feel right. There should be cheering. Parties in the streets. Y’know, like when we defeated the Horde.”

“Well...a lot of war desensitizes people. War, once you’ve been through enough of it, is all a very anticlimactic business. That’s what Abbott Lorkus told me.” He sighed. “It hurts. It hurts a lot, and it’s a big weight off the shoulders when it leaves. I guess this is just...closer to home?”

“I suppose.” She said. “I...need to say something, don’t I?”

“I’d recommend it.” Bow said. “Wanna fly up to the spire?”

“I can teleport, remember?”

"Yeah, but flying up is way more grand.” 

“...I guess you’re right.” Glimmer mounted Swift Wind and flew, as people looked up from their tasks. She landed on the spire. “BRIGHT MOON!”

The spire projected her voice, and she was heard throughout the kingdom. Everyone looked now. 

“Bright Moon...today was hard. The past few months have been worse, worse than the first horde war and the second. We sacrificed many today. We’ve been hurt.” 

The crowd was silent. 

“But we did not fall. We defeated the Gray sea, vanquished Skeletor, and managed to keep our land. We did not fall. YOU did not fall.”

The crowd remained silent, for a few moments. Then a cheer. And another. And another. And a slow build as they went about their work. Soon, everyone cheered, and voices rang out with freedom, relief, and happiness. It was a strange sight, to see such a formerly distressed crowd, turn to song and cheer so quickly as the sun left behind the hills. 

* * *

One of the smiling faces was, oddly enough, Catra. She looked over at Adora, who was on a cot next to her. “This feels familiar, huh?”

“Cot, closeness...weird aches and pains I can’t quite identify...seems like the horde to me.”

“Kind of like home.”

“The horde did feel like home to you, didn’t it?”

“Well, I mean,” She strained and sat up, “It was.” Catra yawned. “What else could even  _ be  _ home for me?”

“Here?”

“Well, I mean, I-” Catra thought a moment. “I...I suppose I wouldn’t mind it?”

“I wouldn’t mind you being close, either.” Adora sat up, with a pained grunt. She hugged Catra tightly. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

Catra did something she hadn’t done around Adora before, at least, in a while. She cried. She sobbed, wet, hot tears streaming down her cheeks and onto Adora’s shoulders. “We...we’re home, Adora.”

“Home.”

* * *

“Home.” Roke said, cleaning his sword, and packing up a few things. “Sword Rock, y’know?” He and the other new Graethites saddled up on horses that had been kept hidden away; the Graethites raised horses, so Roke, at least, was a little familiar with them. 

“Not even going to stick around to celebrate?”

“We really need to get back to Sword Rock.” He said. “Things are going to get interesting in Plumeria while everything is rebuilt, and we want to be there if anything goes wrong.” 

“That’s fair.” Glimmer hugged Roke. “Thank you. For everything. I mean it, you...really helped us out.”

Roke put up Kothor’s rapier and dagger on his back. “We all made sacrifices, but...in the end it was worth it.” He waved a little. “I, uh...I guess I’ll see you around sometime? Maybe?”

“You might come to council meetings?”

“I mean, I could, I guess. I will have a lot of stuff to do.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way but we don’t exactly  _ need to see  _ each other for a while.”

“Fair point. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Roke set off for the land of Plumeria, wandering roads that were damaged and war torn, hoping they’d be traversable. 

“So long!” Glimmer waved. She went back to visiting people in tents, as the sun set and something odd happened. 

The stars came out. 

* * *

Glimmer found Adora, and looked as she started to walk away. Glimmer stared for a moment. Adora did, too. 

“...you’re safe.” Adora said. 

Glimmer hugged Adora as tight as she could manage, and teleported her back to the castle immediately. “Wait, hey, Glimmer, don’t you need to oversee, like, rebuilding or someth-”

“My advisors are doing that, I’m overseeing YOU for the foreseeable future!”

Adora laughed, and kissed her, moaning softly. “You’re okay. We’re okay. We’re safe.” 

“We are…” Glimmer looked down, then out the window. “We’ll have to help rebuild, but...not tonight. Tonight we try to celebrate.” 

“The celebrations are all gonna take place outside the castle.” 

“I know.” Glimmer said. “We’ll go to those, I promise. But right now, I just...I need to hold you for a minute.” 

“I need to hold you too.” She kissed Glimmer once more and sighed. 

“So...I suppose now’s not a great time to ask about marriage ceremonies?”

“Not...quiiite the best time.” Glimmer sat on her bed, laying back. “But...sometime soon.”

“The wedding or talks of the ceremony?” Adora asked. 

“The talks!” She laughed. “I know I want to marry you. I know that. But getting some sort of plan in place and having things ready is going to take some time!”

“I knooooow.” 

“Patience is important, love.” 

“I know that, too.” 

Another kiss. 

* * *

The standing Salinean ship started out of port, as Mermista bid it farewell. She felt something behind her. 

“...Perfuma?”

“Hi! So...my kingdom isn’t really...a thing right now.”

“I’m, like...aware of that? It was a pretty big talking point.” 

“I was wondering if I could stay in Salineas for a while, just to make sure it’s all secure.”

“There’s, like, literally only cavalry and graethites, it couldn’t be more secu-”

Perfuma held Mermista’s hand. 

“Maybe...just celebrate here with me then?” Perfuma smiled bashfully, and Mermista smirked when she figured out just what was going on. “I suppose a few days couldn’t hurt. Buuuut your kingdom’s gonna need you pretty soon.”

“Oh! Of course.” She said. “Maybe just celebrating tonight is a good idea.”

“I mean, I’m able to provide some aid in the form of drinkable water while they check on the rivers.”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d even oversee it personally~” Mermista winked and squeezed Perfuma’s hand. 

“Then it’s settled!”

“What’s settled?” Entrapta came out of the frigid waters of the port, wearing a drysuit and goggles. She used her hair to lift them off her eyes. 

“What were you even doing down there!?” Mermista asked, seeming more confused then angry. 

“Oh! Well I’ve been trying to study the technology that goes into your ships and since one just so  _ happens  _ to be at the bottom I-”

“You rummaged through a sunken ship!?” Mermista asked. “Why don’t you just  _ ask to see one!? _ ”

“It’s not disrespectful to go down and do some research, is it?” Entrapta asked. “I’m still working on it.”

“As far as I can tell, we got all the bodies off of the ship, so...it’s whatever. But still, just...ask for a floating one.”

“Will do!” Entrapta scurried away, no doubt off to do more research about more things, anything she could get her hands on. 

“That was...strange.” Perfuma said. “Where’d she get a drysuit?”

“No idea.” The two walked further ashore, into the small groups and parties that were forming around the grounds of the inner walls. 

* * *

A few months passed. Slowly, the world seemed to mend itself, and the sun and soft, spring breeze brought a strange peace to the land. For nearly 10 years it had seen wars, first with the Horde, then the Horde again, and now this. And the world seemed almost...quieter. The wars had finished. The fires burned themselves out. They’d run out of fuel. 

Glimmer looked out on the healing land from her balcony. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Adora’s. She was able to tell by the cold metal ring on her hand. Glimmer’s breath hitched. 

“We’re safe.” She said. 

“All of us?” Glimmer turned and looked her in the eye. 

“...all of us.” 

The springtime had brought many things; old things, in the form of Plumeria and the Kingdom of Snows, and a resurgence in Bright Moon’s coffers, and new things, in the form of the new Graethite order, more travel and commerce, a new security advisor, Catra, and a new royal consort, Adora, She-Ra of the age. 

“I’m expecting the council to be here today to discuss trade with Mystacor.”

“Sounds riveting.” Adora cooed sarcastically, kissing Glimmer softly. “I have some guard inspections.” 

“Also sounds riveting.” Glimmer winked, and kissed her once more. 

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“I am too.” Adora walked back to the room to get further dressed, and Glimmer looked out on the statues in the garden; heroes, living or dead. Catra, Castaspella, Bow, Adora, Adam, and...Angella. 

“Are you proud mom?” Glimmer looked up, and heard a breeze rush to her. It was a sign to her. 

_ Of course, my child. I have always been proud.  _

Glimmer heaved a heavy sigh and smiled down at the statue. She looked back behind her. “Adora?”

“Hmm?” Adora looked out from the room, a shirt halfway on. “What is it?”

“I love you very much.” She said. 

“I love you too.” 

The two went on with their respective days, and at the end of it all, the world did, too. It seemed as if the wars, though so recent, were a near distant memory. Amazing how many years of war can be washed away with a little peace. 

Perhaps it should always be this way. 

Glimmer closed the balcony windows, and the sun poured into the room. The world, battered but healing, kept on turning. 

Rest had come. 


End file.
